Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem Rundfunkchor Berlin, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin & Marek Janowski

• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45:
• 1Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: I. Selig sind, die da Leid tragen10:49
• 2Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: II. Denn alles Fleisch es ist wie Gras14:46
• 3Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: III. Herr, lehre doch mich09:22
• 4Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: IV. Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen04:51
• 5Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: V. Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit06:56
• 6Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: VI. Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt10:05
• 7Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45: VII. "Selig sind die Toten"11:42
• Total Runtime01:08:31

Info for Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem

The same choir, Rundfunkchor Berlin, recently recorded this work for Deutsche Grammophon but was not satisfied with the result. This is probably the best choir for this repertoire in the world and it was keen on re-recording this work for PentaTone. Janowski proves how well he understands the repertoire.

"The result here of an unusual piece of rethinking is another Pentatone triumph.The choir on this recording, the Rundfunkchor Berlin, recently recorded the piece for another lable but was not satisfied with the result. These second thoughts are perceptive and intelligent, rendered in the rich acoustic of surround sound that Pentatone is noted for, with Janowski impeccably delineating the architecture of the piece, even if both soloists are not on their best form. Nevertheless, a remarkable reading." (Barry Forshaw's CD Choice)

"It does seem strange that Johannes Brahms, an agnostic, composed what some consider to be the most important sacred choral work ever written. Perhaps he was influenced by the death of Robert Schumann in 1856, and the death of his mother in 1865. The final version of the work was premiered at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in 1869 and since that time it has been a staple of the repertory. This fine Pentatone release contains a perfomance recorded live in Berlin's Philharmonie in November 2009, Janowski's latest addition to his Brahms series for the label. Superb soloists, splendid orchestra and chorus mark this issue that stands up well to the the fine recordings already available over 90 of them! including versions by most major conductors you can think of. Excellent sound, naturally recreating the performance in Berlin's famous hall. Complete texts are provided in German, English and French." (classicalcdreview.com)

Camilla Tilling, soprano
Detlef Roth, baritone
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Rundfunkchor Berlin
Marek Janowski, conductor

Marek Janowski
first came to the Dresden Philharmonic as principal conductor from 2001 to 2003, during which time he already impressed with unusual and challenging programs. With the 2019/2020 concert season, he returned to the Dresden Philharmonic as principal conductor and artistic director.

Born in Warsaw in 1939, raised and educated in Germany, Marek Janowski looks back on an extensive and successful career both as an opera conductor and as artistic director of major concert orchestras. After years as assistant conductor and conductor in Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, his artistic path led him to Freiburg i. Br. and Dortmund as GMD. Between the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, between Chicago, San Francisco, Hamburg, Vienna, Berlin and Paris, there is no opera house of world renown at which he has not been a regular guest since the late 1970s.

In concert, on which he has concentrated since the late 1990s, he continues the great German conducting tradition. From 2002 to 2016, he was principal conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB). Prior to that, and partly in parallel, he served as chief conductor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (2005-2012), the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo (2000-2005), and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (1984-2000), among others, which he developed into France's top orchestra. He was also chief conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne for several years (1986-1990).

Marek Janowski is known worldwide as an outstanding conductor of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Bruckner and Strauss, but also as an expert in the French repertoire. For more than 35 years, more than 50 recordings, most of which have won international awards - including several complete opera recordings and complete symphonic cycles - have contributed to making Marek Janowski's special abilities as a conductor known internationally.

A special focus for him is Richard Wagner's ten operas and music dramas, which he realized in concert with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Rundfunkchor Berlin and a phalanx of international soloists between 2010 and 2013 in the Berlin Philharmonie. All concerts were released on SACD by Pentatone in cooperation with Deutschlandradio. Marek Janowski also returned to an opera house once again for Wagner, conducting the "Ring" at the Bayreuth Festival in 2016 and 2017. He had already recorded this cycle for the disc with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden from 1980 to 1983. For the years 2014 to 2017, he was invited by the NHK Symphony (the most important orchestra in Japan) to conduct Wagner's tetralogy in concert in Tokyo.

Under his direction, several recordings have already been made with the Dresden Philharmonic, such as the one-act operas "Cavalleria rusticana" and "Il Tabarro" by Mascagni and Puccini, as well as Beethoven's "Fidelio", also recorded by the Pentatone label.

This album contains no booklet.