For all the enjoyment and expediency they provide us with, modern-day studio recordings are often context deficient. They tend to lack the personality of live concert equivalents which, despite their own troublesome paradoxes, come ready-stamped with their own unique circumstances that offers a greater sense of relevance and, indeed, reality. The 'where', the 'when' and - most crucially - the 'why' regarding the genesis of so many CDs in today's classical music market merely falls by the wayside.
In the latest re-release from Naxos Historical, however, we hear a studio performance that benefits not only from some of the twentieth century's finest artists, but also from the vivid and intriguing backdrop against which it was created.
This, the first-ever complete studio recording of Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, was originally produced for EMI in October 1947. All those involved had to endure the acute turmoil of post-war Vienna, a city partitioned by the main Allied powers into four occupying zones. Soprano soloist Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - who famously chose eight of her own recordings when she appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs - is even reputed to have sung with the chorus, weakened as they were by meagre food supplies and demoralised by power cuts and a volatile economic situation.
These were extremely trying times. And yet a thirty-nine-year-old Herbert von Karajan conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and The Choral Society of the Friends of Music, Vienna in an account that is nothing short of triumphant. Each movement is remarkable for its capture of and adherence to the sentiments of the Lutheran sacred texts. The atmosphere of 'Selig sind, die da Leid tragen,' from its dark, throbbing beginnings through its climactic swells, is instantly striking. Karajan's direction is impeccable, drawing fresh and spontaneous playing from all corners of the orchestra. The strings - be they the poignant violas, 'cellos and basses in the opening movement or the soaring violins that accompany the entry of the sopranos in 'Selig sind die Toten' - radiate sincerity and gravity in all their playing. The woodwind are, similarly, a perpetual source of enchantment. Appropriately enough, they have the final say with a tender and moving rendition of the requiem's closing bars. The brass, though less prominent, are highly dependable.
Karajan's choir matches the intensity of his instrumental musicians, nowhere more so than in the powerful second movement, 'Denn alles Fleisch es ist wie Gras'. They possess a penetrating focus that allows them to flourish throughout the many inflections of Brahms' choral writing. Thus, the exquisitely sensitive timbre of the sopranos and altos as 'So seid nun geduldig' and the resolute declaration of Isaiah 35:10 that eventually brings the movement to a close are equally successful.
Schwarzkopf gives a serene rendition of Ihr habt nur Traurigkeit, her distinctively saccharine tone reflecting the hopeful solace exuded by the text. The flexing of her expressive muscles at the return of the movement's eponymous opening line is breathtaking, both in its eloquence and its simplicity. Backed by the gentle yet assured entries of the chorus, and accompanied by some delicately poised orchestral playing, this movement achieves a rare and exceptional emotional ecstasy.
Though baritone Hans Hotter doesn't quite match Schwarzkopf's expressive ingenuity, the rich and arresting timbre he produces is riveting in his own right. His charming and, at times, almost ironic duet with the woodwind in 'Herr, lehre doch mich' (beginning at 'Ach, wie gar nichts sind alle Menschen') is later followed by a brilliant orchestral and choral transition from the beseeching plea of Psalms 39 to the faithful conviction of the Wisdom of Solomon. Hotter's return in 'Denn wir haben hier keine bleibende Statt', commanding though it is, is upstaged by the chorus' exhilarating defiance of death at 'Der Tod ist verschlungen in den Sieg'.
Audio restoration engineer Mark Obert-Thorn has generated an excellent equilibrium, bringing many of the fine details from Brahms' score to the fore whilst retaining a strong sense of the music's density. Clearer elocution from the chorus is sometimes desirable - particularly as the CD booklet is devoid of the composer's chosen biblical texts - but beggars can't be choosers in the historical recordings market. All in all, this is an outstanding and most welcome re-addition to the recorded annals of Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem.