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Title: Powerful and well-played...sound a little sterile.
Review: This is an exceptional recording of the Requiem. The clarity and variety in the string sound is wonderful, the brass and timpani are bright, agressive and add a little element of terror (often taken out of this piece to make it more "beautiful"), the choir is clear and expressive, and Barbara Bonney is exquisite. I find the sound of the woodwinds, and of the overall master to be a little sterile - not acoustically dry, but rather digitally cold. The recording quality might not be noticed on average speakers, but I listen on balanced studio monitors and also on high-end home theatre speakers, and the sound just came across as a little artificial. That is my only complaint. Check out Bruno Weil with Tafelmusik.
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