Requiem

"This new release couples it [Bruckner's Requiem] with ten mostly short, rarely heard, liturgical pieces: motets and three aequales - short funeral pieces for three trombones to commemorate the dead. Three of those ten are world premiere recordings ... The scurrying strings in the Dies Irae are expertly articulated, although I could do with a little more vehemence and attack from the RIAS chamber choir which is otherwise very pleasing: pure, homogeneous and beautifully in tune - and they excel in the supplementary motets ... As it is, the ten "bonus" tracks fittingly complement and reinforce the grave beauty of the preceding work. I especially love the melancholy, hieratic timbre of the three trombones in their numbers, recreating a sound-world redolent of Monteverdi ... This is a disc to intrigue and engage the Bruckner aficionado".

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"This collection of funeral music by Bruckner, mostly choral works composed in his twenties, provides a fascinating contrast with the more commonly heard symphonic masterpieces from the composer's later years. The most substantial work here is the Requiem ... The singing and playing are uniformly excellent, and the recording has exemplary balance and clarity".