Mozart: Requiem

Mozart’s Requiem was left unfinished at his death in 1791. Even placing Franz Xaver Süssmayr’s completion aside, there is enough of the Requiem to present a potent testament to a composer who spent his latter years thrusting music into a new era, while still paying homage to its past. Throughout the work, for instance, you’ll hear the best of Mozart’s operas in his characterful orchestral accompaniments, but there are also striking instances where Mozart is paying clear dues to Bach and Handel. The problem for all conductors, then, is how to represent the work in performance. By exploiting its moments of theatre, its almost Brahmsian richness? Or by using lean, supple forces of an almost Baroque sensibility? For Raphael Pichon, the answer is to present Mozart’s wide canvas of influence. There is indeed a leanness that’s apparent from the startling opening—and it’s nimble, too, avoiding any ensuing wallowing. In fact, there’s an almost dance-like lilt, letting in a hint of optimism that seems tentatively to embrace rather than simply fear the afterlife. Full Requiem drama is resumed in the “Kyrie” and “Dies Irae”, with musicmaking of stinging energy. The “Sanctus”,meanwhile, blooms with Haydnesque warmth, while the “Agnus Dei” recalls the final act of Don Giovanni and the vengeful ghost of the Commendatore. This is a Mozart Requiem of three-dimensional character. Bookending and dotted throughout this engaging performance are short pieces that serve both as breaks in the drama and fascinating interconnections linking movements of the Requiem to earlier periods in Mozart’s life. Among the “extras” is the Solfeggio in F Major (Track 10) which harks to the “Kyrie” of the Mass in C minor K. 427, a work whose opening bears similarities to the Requiem (and which was also left unfinished at the composer’s death). We begin with the plainchant “In paradisum”, its simple unaccompanied innocence interrupted (almost rudely!) by a quartet of singers lamenting the brevity of life, and an introductory “Miserere Mei” that brings us round to the liturgical world (and tonality) of the Requiem. Inside the Album Booklet In his instructive and very readable essay, Raphaël Pichon lifts the lid on his imaginative version of Mozart’s Requiem, plus you can follow text in translation (from Latin into English, French and German). Album booklets are available in the latest version of Apple Music Classical, which you can download and enjoy as part of your Apple Music subscription. To access booklets, tap on the book icon at the top of your screen.