Johannes Brahms - Ein deutsches Requiem (Kent Nagano)

Information

• Johannes Brahms - Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 (Bremen Version)
• Giuseppe Tartini - Violin Concerto in B-Flat Major, D 120: II. Andante (Version for Violin and Organ)
• Robert Schumann - Abendlied, Op. 85, No. 12 (Version for violin and organ)
• Johann Sebastian Bach - St Matthew Passion, BWV 244: 39. Erbarme dich
• Georg Frideric Handel - Der Messias (Excerpts)

Kate Lindsey, mezzo-soprano

Jóhann Kristinsson, baritone

Veronika Eberle, violin

Thomas Cornelius, organ

Chor der KlangVerwaltung

Cappella Vocale Blankenese

Chor der Kantorei St. Nikolai

Compagnia Vocale Hamburg

Franz-Schubert-Chor Hamburg

Hamburger Bachchor St. Petri

Jugendkantorei Volksdorf

Kammerchor Cantico

Vokalensemble conSonanz

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

Kent Nagano, conductor

Date: 2025

Label: BIS

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In August 2022, Johannes Brahms' “Deutsches Requiem” was once again performed and recorded, this time by the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra under Kent Nagano in Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie concert hall. Surprisingly, the choral masterpiece is not performed in its usual seven-movement version, but in the version in which it was premiered on 10 April 1868 (Good Friday) under Brahms' direction in Bremen Cathedral, without the fifth movement for soprano and choir, which was only completed later that year. On the other hand, there are numerous interludes, instrumental and vocal, secular and sacred, by Bach, Tartini, Schumann and Handel - including pieces that were considered essential components of a Good Friday concert at the time. Such a programme may seem unusual today, but these musical additions shed new light on Brahms' work, which in this version manifests itself as what Umberto Eco would have called an “open work”. The performance of the work in the form in which it was heard at the Bremen premiere is more than just a reconstruction: it enriches our understanding of this unique music. It is also remarkable that a total of nine choirs and vocal ensembles took part. Mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey, baritone Jóhann Kristinsson, violinist Veronika Eberle and organist Thomas Cornelius also took part.

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