Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris & Hermann Scherchen - LP Pure, Vol. 45: Berlioz: Requiem Op. 5 (Remastered Historical Recording) (2020) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist
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01. Grande messe des morts, Op. 5, H. 75 "Requiem": I. Requiem et Kyrie. Introït
02. Grande messe des morts, Op. 5, H. 75 "Requiem": II. Dies iræ
03. Grande messe des morts, Op. 5, H. 75 "Requiem": III. Quid sum miser
04. Grande messe des morts, Op. 5, H. 75 "Requiem": IV. Rex tremendæ
05. Grande messe des morts, Op. 5, H. 75 "Requiem": V. Quaerens me
06. Grande messe des morts, Op. 5, H. 75 "Requiem": VI. Lacrymosa
07. Grande messe des morts, Op. 5, H. 75 "Requiem": VII. Offertorium
08. Grande messe des morts, Op. 5, H. 75 "Requiem": VIII. Hostias
09. Grande messe des morts, Op. 5, H. 75 "Requiem": IX. Sanctus
10. Grande messe des morts, Op. 5, H. 75 "Requiem": X. Agnus Dei


This recording from April 1958 is of special importance. It was realized in the Paris Eglise Saint-Louis des Invalides where it had been premiered by the composer himself on December 5, 1837. Its special acoustique gives this early stereo recording a very special air.

"What Scherchen does so well is cumulative power and grandeur and a palpable sense of spiritual commitment, though it’s always one that equates slowness of tempo with gravity of feeling. The gravely etched bass line is part of a marmoreal approach to the Offertorium that lasts all of 11.13 (compare Fournet and Munch who agree on a mean of 6.23, a truly exceptional difference). But Scherchen does have Jean Giraudeau in the Sanctus and his voice is caressing, fragile, boyish and otherworldly in its employment of a typically French head voice. I admit to being very partial to him and his raptness has a beauty all its own. The final Agnus Dei needless to say lasts a Brucknerian 15.33 – Fournet and Munch are in absolute tempo agreement as to 11.55 – but Scherchen’s apartness from a perceived French tradition in this work brings other gravities and perceptions.

The leading contenders for performances of around that time (and now) would include the ones already mentioned – I strongly recommend the Fournet with Georges Jouatte despite the problematic Parisian acoustic, though the later Munch with Leopold Simoneau is a central recommendation – and the live Beecham from 1959 with Richard Lewis now on BBC Legends, which is superb." (Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International)

Jean Giraudeau, tenor
Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris
Hermann Scherchen, conductor

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