Requiem Mass / Quattro Pezzi Sacri [Four Sacred Pieces]

"Recorded live at a concert in the large hall of the Musikverein in Vienna in November 1991, this performance of Verdi's dramatic Requiem is really commanding. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the chorus of the Vienna State Opera respond appropriately to Abbado's exciting but not over-operatic handling of the work, and the recording is admirably clear. The soloists are a fine and well-matched quartet. The pronounced beat in Carreras's voice at his first entrance, in the Kyrie, is less disturbing elsewhere, and his great solo 'Ingemisco tamquam reus' is sung with a moving fervour. Ruggero Raimondi's mellifluous dark bass caresses his phrases beautifully, and Marjana Lipovsek is admirably steady in her duets with Cheryl Studer, whose heartfelt account of the final 'Libera me' is highly affecting." (Classical-Music.com)