Mozart, Requiem in D minor, K. 626



The Requiem is not only Mozart's last composition, but also the one most
shrouded in mystery. The purportedly enigmatic patron who ordered the work
and the fatal illness that befell Mozart while he was working on it long
nurtured the macabre legend of Mozart composing his own Requiem mass
commissioned by Death himself. The Requiem was completed by Mozart's friend
and pupil Franz Saver Süssmayr on the basis of Mozart's sketches and
instructions. The somber woodwinds and brass, the artless melodies and the
stirring shifts from intricate contrapuntal writing to mighty homophonic
blocks convey an otherworldly, apocalyptic feeling seldom encountered in
Mozart's works. Despite its almost operatic solo passages and large
orchestra, the Requiem was intended for the church, and is indeed an ideal
work for the theatrically sumptuous and brilliant Baroque churches of
Austria and southern Germany.
Karl Böhm was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. Though
Wagner was one of Böhm's first loves, his friendship with Richard Strauss
led to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography,
Böhm wrote that "Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of
this, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart." Böhm's
discovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations into
unforgettable events. Filmed in Vienna's resplendent "Piaristenkirche",
this recording of Mozart's Requiem features the illustrious Mozart singers
Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Peter Schreier and Walter Berry.





Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Title: Mozart, Requiem in D minor, K. 626
Conductor: Karl Böhm
Soloist: Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Peter Schreier, Walter Berry
Orchestra: Wiener Symphoniker
Chorus: Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor
Video Director: Hugo Käch
Genre: Concert
Length: 64 minutes
Cat.No.: A05004505
Gallery         DVD