Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Requiem

Publisher: SEPEA audio

Playing time: 44 min

Specifications: half track ¼“, stereo, 38 cm/s, 2 metal reels, CCIR, 38 cm/s

Homepage: https://sepeaaudio.com/

Translation of the German review:

As I unpacked the two tape boxes and took in everything, I had a sentimental tinge because this edition, including a twelve-page booklet, is so beautifully produced. It is and remains so: Packaging and the "appearance" of articles have their added value. Then I got stuck on the booklet and started reading. As soon as this project was announced, I asked myself the question, as it is also printed in the book: "Why listen to the Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with a small line-up, without a large choir, without soloists and without the powerful sound of the orchestra?" One can read an explanation, which I strongly summarize here: the transcription of the Requiem is by Peter Lichtenberg, born in 1778 in Bratislava, the capital of present-day Slovakia. A contemporary of Mozart, with direct contact to his family, he was multi-talented. In addition to music, he studied medicine and was a versatile writer. He tried to make Mozart's music known in his own way in Italy. The version for string quartet exists as a manuscript and was published in 2006 by the Güntersberg publishing house. If you want to compare this version with the orchestral version, you will find a very nice "guide" written by the author Dorota Krzywicka-Kaindel in the booklet accompanying the tape.

The Requiem was a commissioned work. For Mozart, composing it was nevertheless a matter of the heart, as he had thoughts about the "true final purpose of life" that would not let him go: "I never go to bed without thinking that perhaps, young as I am, I will not see you again the next day...". Tragically, it happened in this sense and for health reasons he did not manage to complete the Requiem. He died on December 5, 1791, and his widow Constanze later commissioned Mozart's students to complete it. Joseph Eybler and Franz Xaver Süßmayr were in charge of the work. The first edition of the work was published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1800.

The violist Elżbieta Sajka-Bachler has made it her program to make rarely performed or forgotten works by famous composers accessible to an interested audience. She writes: "To spread the Requiem in the program of the "Hausmusikkonzerte" was Peter Lichtenthal's goal. To experience music so close, not to hide from pain, sorrow and tears, not to be ashamed to cry." This recording features the PANDOLFIDS CONSORT, which she founded in 2004. The ensemble has international concert experience. In addition to Elżbieta Sajka-Bachler (viola), Ingrid Rohrmoser (violin), Maximilian Bratt (violin) and Günter Schagerl (cello) perform.

But now the tape was inserted and the start button was pressed. At first, listening to it was indeed unusual for me, because I would have intuitively expected a large orchestra for this piece. However, this transcription, coupled with the palpable enthusiasm of the string quartet, then detaches itself from the original to such an extent that I can perceive and accept it as a work in its own right. Since this recording was made amazingly close to reality, one can listen very closely to the instruments. "Razor-sharp" would also be appropriate, but the somewhat exaggerated expression; there is a tendency toward that on my system, however. However, the events do not tend towards the annoying, but rather offer a special situation for me as an analog freak: When have I ever heard such recording and playing accuracy in a recording? The musicians are standing in close proximity to each other in the room. It sounds as if I were sitting directly in front of them. Is that too much of a good thing? I don't think so, I'm simply not used to it. At a live concert, you immediately take this kind of performance for granted, so why not from the canned sound? The way it was intended by the recording management, it arrives at home arrives: The sound was captured via SONODORE "RCM 402" and "DPA 2006" microphones and mixed on the superior SONOSAX "SX-T" analog console. The signals were recorded directly via a STUDER "A80". Nothing is lost in a 1:1 transfer from tape to tape.

Conclusion: The analog production is played back via an analog chain in my case. True to this principle, I still consider this to be the superior system for music reproduction - despite all the critics. Elegance, depth and sonority, i.e. the sonority of sounds or the degree of voicing of music, are the deciding factors for this sublimity. If you want to listen to the music beforehand, you can find a one-minute example of each piece on the SEPEA AUDIO homepage.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)