Brahms / German Requiem / Stuttgart / Bernius / 1997

Brahms: German  Requiem (op. 45)
Kammerchor Stuttgart & Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart
conductor: Frieder Bernius
live recording, 2 November 1997
Carus label, in box entitled 'Requiem' (3 CDs; 2024) also containing the Requiem by Mozart (KV 626) and the Requiem in c by Cherubini
This is now my favorite recording, mostly because of the outstanding choral singing and also because of the fine interpretation.
Moreover, the criterion of rising to the occasion in movement 6 (from "Herr, Du bist würdig..." onwards) is a touchstone for me.
I compared this recording with my other favorite (it definitely remains a favorite!), the live recording from 1992 by the Berlin Philharmonic, with the Swedish Radio Chorus and the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, conducted by Claudio Abbado.
Honorable mention: the 1943 live recording by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, with the Westminster Choir, conducted by Toscanini.
Dishonorable mention: the 1940 live recording by the Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Mengelberg, especially because of the cut in my touchstone passage. (Was this amputation caused by not having enough rehearsal time?)
--
Roland van Gaalen
Amsterdam