Rafael Kubelik - Johannes Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem (2001)

Rafael Kubelik was one of the great conductors of the second half of the twentieth century.. Fortunately we can hear a lot of his fantastic records.In the beginning he was principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. From the short time he was music director of the Chicago Symphony, in the beginning of the fiftieths, we have some incredible examples of his art: The Schoenberg's five pieces opus 16 , the Hindemith's Metamorphoses, etc. He was, for a short time too, music director of the Metropolitan opera and the Covent Garden.He was for some decades music director of the Bayerischen Rundfunks Orchester , and with this orchestra we have some of the most impressive recordings of all times: the works of his countrymen, Dvorak, Smetana and Janacek are a reference. His cycle of Beethoven's Symphonies are a surprise , principally the Second ( with the Concertgebow) and the Seventh ( with the Wiener Philharmoniker) . The recordings of Schoenberg with "his" orchestra (Gurrelieder, piano Concerto and violin Concerto) are by far the best we can hear. His Mahler is very good too .By Brahms we have one very good cycle of Symphonies ( Orfeo) and this recording of the Deutsches Requiem .
This recording is a live performance in a church. If the sound isn't fantastic and clear, the musical qualities make this performance one of the bests . The two soloists are remarkable. Edith Mathis sings in a precise and full of emotion manner. Wolfgang Brendel, that recorded this part with Sinopolli, is, in this performance, with Kubelik, superior .
As in the records of Dvorak's Stabat Mater and Beethoven's Ninetieth, Kubelik has one outstanding chorus . And the orchestra is one of my favorite.
Mr "Santa Fe Listener" wrote a review with the title "The most un-German of German Requiems". I discord . If one look for the score we see that Kubelik understand very well what is written. The second movement has the "andamento" : Langsan marschmässig" , in English, Slow, in a movement of a march . And the indication of the strings is"legato ma un poco marcato". It is exactly what Kubelik does.