Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir, Hans Graf – Józef Kozłowski: Requiem (2024) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir, Hans Graf - Józef Kozłowski: Requiem (2024) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz] Download

Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir, Hans Graf – Józef Kozłowski: Requiem (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 49:15 minutes | 933 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © PENTATONE

The Singapore Symphony and its music director Hans Graf present a recording of Józef Kozłowski’s Requiem, together with the Singapore Symphony Chorus & Youth Choir, as well as a quartet of outstanding soloists: Olga Peretyatko (soprano), Olesya Petrova (mezzo-soprano), Boris Stepanov (tenor) and Christoph Seidl (bass). The Requiem (1798) was commissioned to Kozłowski by the abdicated King Stanisław of Poland, and can be perceived as a requiem not just for the monarch, but for the entire Polish nation, absorbed by the Russian state during the 1780s. Interestingly, the work was also heard during the funeral of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, in a different version with heavier orchestration and choruses for more drama. The current recording uses a new edition created by conductor Graf himself, realizing the intimate character of the original 1798 version. Composed just 7 years after Mozart’s famous Requiem, the work is rooted in Viennese Classicism, yet also adumbrates nineteenth-century developments, with a subtle Slavonic tinge. This revival is a gem to anyone interested in music from the early Romantic era.

The Singapore Symphony returns to Pentatone after their acclaimed recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Locatelli’s Labirinto armonico starring violinist Chloe Chua (2023). Hans Graf, the Singapore Symphony Chorus & Youth Choir and the vocal quartet all make their Pentatone debut.Józef Kozłowski (1757 or 1759-1831) was a Polish-born composer who moved to St. Petersburg and began working there after Poland came under Russian rule at the end of the 18th century. This Requiem was commissioned in advance of his own death in 1798 by the last king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Stanisław II August. It was performed again in 1825 in a revised version by Kozłowski himself after the death of the Russian Czar Alexander I, who was also the titular ruler of Poland. The 1825 version was recorded in 1988 by a Soviet choir and orchestra, but this recording of the 1798 version, unearthed and led by Singapore Symphony conductor Hans Graf, is apparently a world premiere. Parts of the work are exceptionally beautiful, and, in the words of annotators Edward C. Yong and Leon Chia, “It is hard not to see in the music an image of the Polish nation (which was not to see independence again for over 120 years) submitting itself to Fate.” Sample the Tuba mirum, which seems just a step away from Berlioz and receives a wonderful performance from bass soloist Christoph Seidl (all the soloists are very strong). The final parts of the mass, darkening from E flat major to E flat minor in the last movement, are hauntingly beautiful and do live up to Yong and Chia’s contention. Some of the orchestration in this earlier version seems thin, and it might be instructive to have a new recording of the later version. However, any reading is most welcome, for the piece qualifies as a neglected masterwork. The Singapore Symphony Chorus is kept curiously back in the mix by PentaTone’s engineers working at the Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore, but the singing, in general, is very strong. A must for lovers of Polish and early Russian music, this is a moving score for anyone. – James Manheim

Tracklist:

1. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir & Hans Graf – Kozłowski: Requiem in E-Flat Minor: I. Requiem et Kyrie (05:21)
2. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir & Hans Graf – Kozłowski: Requiem in E-Flat Minor: II. Dies irae (03:17)
3. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir & Hans Graf – Kozłowski: Requiem in E-Flat Minor: III. Tuba mirum (04:29)
4. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir & Hans Graf – Kozłowski: Requiem in E-Flat Minor: IV. Judex ergo (04:59)
5. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir & Hans Graf – Kozłowski: Requiem in E-Flat Minor: V. Confutatis (04:29)
6. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir & Hans Graf – Kozłowski: Requiem in E-Flat Minor: VI. Lacrymosa (02:44)
7. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir & Hans Graf – Kozłowski: Requiem in E-Flat Minor: VII. Domine Jesu Christe (05:23)
8. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir & Hans Graf – Kozłowski: Requiem in E-Flat Minor: VIII. Sanctus (02:50)
9. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir & Hans Graf – Kozłowski: Requiem in E-Flat Minor: IX. Benedictus (04:01)
10. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir & Hans Graf – Kozłowski: Requiem in E-Flat Minor: X. Agnus Dei (05:33)
11. Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir & Hans Graf – Kozłowski: Requiem in E-Flat Minor: XI. Quia pius es – XII. Requiem aeternam (06:04)