Requiem : Christophers / Handel & Haydn Society, E.Watts, Pancella, A.Kennedy, Owens

Mozart Requiem
Harry Christophers & Handel and Haydn Society

Following the success of the Mozart Mass in C minor last year, CORO is delighted to announce the release of its second recording with Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society.

Mozart’s final moments are reflected through this masterpiece of drama, intensity and depth. The mysterious circumstances surrounding the Requiem’s commission (delivered by a ‘messenger in black’ who refused to reveal the identity of the person who had sent him), and the fact it was left incomplete by a dying Mozart, have ensured a continued fascination with the work. Completed by Mozart’s colleague Sussmayr in 1792, the Requiem is one of Mozart’s most popular and enduring works and one of the most enigmatic pieces of music ever composed.

The CD also features Mozart’s Ave verum corpus and the first recording on period instruments of his concert aria Per questa bella mano for bass voice and solo double bass obligato - a piece famous for its fiendishly difficult double bass part, performed superbly on this recording by Robert Nairn. ( CORO )

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Ave verum corpus, K618
Requiem, K626
Per questa bella mano, K612

Elizabeth Watts, soprano
Phyllis Pancella, mezzo-soprano
Andrew Kennedy, tenor
Eric Owens, bass
Robert Nairn, double bass
Handel and Haydn Society / Harry Christophers, conductor

Recorded Live at Boston, 2011