Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem

Album review

With this 2015 recording of Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, Hervé Niquet, the Flemish Radio Choir, and the Brussels Philharmonic offer a revitalized interpretation that renounces excessive reverence and thick ensemble sonorities for a streamlined and decidedly unsentimentalized version. This vivid performance may be shocking to listeners who have come to know Ein deutsches Requiem through many 20th century recordings, where sluggish tempos, overly large choirs, and homogenized orchestral blends were often deemed acceptable. In light of historically informed performance practices, where scholars have determined that 19th century readings were often lighter in textures, leaner in ensemble size, and typically faster paced, Niquet takes the work at a brisk tempo, highlights distinctive tone colors and transparent choral parts, and shows little attachment to outmoded conventions. This yields a natural flow that emphasizes the music's soaring lyricism and avoids anything stodgy or funereal. Never mind that Niquet views the work as a kind of opera (the one musical form Brahms never attempted), but the drama of Ein deutsches Requiem comes across effectively, especially in the contrasting sections of "Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras" and the turbulent "Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt," which has all the visceral excitement of an operatic scene.
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