Conductor Sergiu Celibidache, who, in his lifetime, did not authorize recordings to be produced of his performances, had a rather unique perspective on tempo. In a nutshell, he believed that since either the ear or the microphone was only capable of capturing a finite amount of information in a given space of time, tempo was in part a function of the complexity of the music. Both Celibidache's son and former student make arguments defending this rationale in this CD's liner notes. From a purely academic standpoint, this ...
Read More
Conductor Sergiu Celibidache, who, in his lifetime, did not authorize recordings to be produced of his performances, had a rather unique perspective on tempo. In a nutshell, he believed that since either the ear or the microphone was only capable of capturing a finite amount of information in a given space of time, tempo was in part a function of the complexity of the music. Both Celibidache's son and former student make arguments defending this rationale in this CD's liner notes. From a purely academic standpoint, this makes sense; an incredible amount of nuance can indeed be lost to a rapid tempo. But if slower tempos are really required for more complex, note-laden music, the music of Mendelssohn would come almost to a standstill and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring would take a week to perform. In the present case of Mozart's Requiem, Celibidache's choice of extremely ponderous tempos throughout may be instructive for a while in that listeners can truly appreciate all of the subtle suspensions, inner...
Read Less
Add this copy of Requiem to cart. $32.01, good condition, Sold by Bookmans rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tucson, AZ, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Angel Records.
