Verdi: Requiem, Quattro Pezzi Sacri

Disc 1
1	Requiem Mass
2	Requiem Mass
3	Requiem Mass
4	Requiem Mass
5	Requiem Mass
6	Requiem Mass
7	Requiem Mass
8	Requiem Mass
9	Requiem Mass
10	Requiem Mass
Disc 2
1	Requiem Mass
2	Requiem Mass
3	Requiem Mass
4	Requiem Mass
5	Requiem Mass
6	Requiem Mass
7	Requiem Mass
8	Requiem Mass
9	Requiem Mass
10	Quattro pezzi sacri
11	Quattro pezzi sacri
12	Quattro pezzi sacri
13	Quattro pezzi sacri
Verdi: Requiem, Quattro Pezzi Sacri
1.	Requiem Mass, for soloists, chorus & orchestra (Manzoni Requiem) 1:24:14
	Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
	Performed by Joan Sutherland, Wiener Philharmoniker, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, Jo Ann Pickens, Martti Talvela and Vienna State Opera Chorus
	Conducted by Georg Solti
2.	Sacred Pieces (4), for chorus & orchestra (Quattro pezzi sacri) 38:12
	Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
	Performed by Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Margaret Hillis and Jo Ann Pickens
	Conducted by Georg Solti

All Music Guide

Well, that was loud, dramatic, intense, and emotional, or was it deafening, histrionic, and sentimental? It all depends on how you like your Verdi Requiems. In this 1967 recording, Georg Solti leads the Wiener Philharmoniker and Staatsopernchor plus an all-star cast of soloists in a performance that takes the volume of the Reiner recording, the drama of the Giulini recording, the intensity of the Toscanini recording, and the emotionality of the Serafin recording and turns every dial all the way into the red. And although there's no debating the quality of the individual performers -- how could one beat a team of soloists consisting of soprano Joan Sutherland, mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, tenor Luciano Pavarotti, and bass Martti Talvela, much less an orchestra and chorus like Vienna's? -- there is room to debate the quantity of the performance. Should the Dies Irae really have an attack like a Panzer division? Should the Rex tremendae really have the spectacle of the Circus maximus? Should the Lacrimosa really have the force of a punch by Cassius Clay? And should the closing Libra me really have the emotive power of Joan Crawford? While the Solti performance may be the ultimate in Verdi Requiems for some listeners, for others, it will simply be too much, particularly as captured in Decca's bludgeoning stereo sound. On the other hand, the inclusion of Margaret Hillis and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus' lovingly sung, beautifully balanced, and passionately dedicated performances of Verdi's "Quattro pezzi sacri" will be balm to anyone who loves Verdi at his most restrained and least bombastic. James Leonard

New York Times

This was the pre-portly, pre-bearded phrase of Pavarotti’s career, and he sings thrillingly, with youthful ardor and emotional depth. And there, at its freshest, is that Pavarotti sound. Anthony Tommasini