Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra – Requiem: Mozart’s Death in Words and Music (SACD hibrid)

The highly acclaimed “Pittsburgh Live!” series from the FRESH! label reaches its 16th chapter with Reference Recordings – this time featuring Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s beloved Requiem in a very special interpretation: film and Broadway star F. Murray Abraham accompanies the great conductor Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Honeck’s dramatic conception of “Requiem: Mozart’s Death In Words And Music.” The “Pittsburgh Live!” series won a Grammy in 2025 for its recordings of Bruckner’s “Symphony No. 7 / Bates: Resurrexit” and in 2018 for Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 5 / Barber ”Adagio For Strings.”

More than a decade ago, Honeck had already interpreted Mozart’s epic masterpiece in a contemporary way by incorporating text into the score and performing it – together with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Abraham as narrator – at Heinz Hall in 2012 and Carnegie Hall in 2014. F. Murray Abraham won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Italian composer Antonio Salieri in the film “Amadeus,” which fictionalized the relationship between Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and used Mozart’s music in the soundtrack. In 2023, he returned to Pittsburgh to collaborate once again with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to create an extraordinary concert weekend. Melia Tourangeau, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, said, “Manfred Honeck’s interpretation of Mozart’s Requiem is very special because it incorporates traditional Austrian death bells and Gregorian chants and conveys both comfort and hope.”

Maestro Honeck once again graces listeners with his incomparable notes, giving us a magnificent insight into his musical interpretation of Mozart’s last, iconic work. Since 2008, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, now in its 130th season and looking back on a rich history of engaging the world’s finest conductors and musicians, has been led by Manfred Honeck. The orchestra, acclaimed by critics worldwide, also looks back on a long and illustrious history of recordings and live radio broadcasts dating back to the 1930s. “Requiem: Mozart’s Death In Words And Music” was recorded live in 2023 in the beautiful and historic Heinz Hall, home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, in superb audiophile sound quality.

This release and the entire “Pittsburgh Live!” series were produced, recorded, and mastered by the Soundmirror team, whose outstanding orchestral, solo, opera, and chamber music recordings have received over 140 (!) Grammy nominations and awards to date. Reference Recordings has been responsible for many award-winning CDs, Hybrid SACDs, and LPs in the fields of classical, jazz, blues and world music in recent years. All releases are recorded with the conviction that the sound of a recording is just as important as the music itself.

MUSICIANS

Manfred Honeck (music director)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

F. Murray Abraham (narrator)
Jeanine De Bique (soprano)
Catriona Morison (mezzo-soprano)
Ben Bliss (tenor)
Tareq Nazmi (bass)
Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh (Prepared by Betsy Burleigh and Dr. Ryan Keeling) Tenors and Basses of The Westminster Choir (James Jordan, conductor)

Recorded Live, from March 17 – 19, 2023 at Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

We recommend the use of „L’Art du Son” CD/DVD conditioner for even more sonic improvement.

Lista pieselor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)

1. Bell Strikes

Gregorian Chant
2. Requiem In Aeternam

Reading
3. Letter From Mozart To His Father In Salzburg (Vienna, April 4, 1787)

Mozart: Maurerische Trauermusik In C Minor, K. 477
4.  Maurerische Trauermusik

Gregorian Chant 
5.    Domine Exaudi Orationem Meam

Mozart: Vesperae Solennes De Confessore, K.339
6.    No. 5: Laudate Dominum (“O Praise The Lord”)

           Gregorian Chant
7.    In Quacumque Die

Reading
8.    “Who Knows Where The Stars Stand” by Nelly Sachs
9.    “When In The Late Spring” by Nelly Sachs

Mozart: Requiem In D Minor, K. 626
10.    I. Introitus: Requiem (Chorus And Soprano)
11.    II. Kyrie (Chorus)

Reading
12.    Book Of Revelations, 6:8–17

Mozart: Requiem In D Minor, K. 626
13.    IIIa. Sequentia. Dies Irae (Chorus)
14.    IIIb. Sequentia. Tuba Mirum (Soloists)
15.    IIIc. Sequentia. Rex Tremendae (Chorus)
16.    IIId. Sequentia. Recordare (Soloists)
17.    IIIe. Sequentia. Confutatis (Chorus)
18.    IIIf. Sequentia. Lacrimosa (Chorus)

Gregorian Chant
19.    Christus Factus Est

Reading
20.    Book Of Revelations, 21:1–7

Requiem In D Minor, K. 626
21.    IVa. Offertorium. Domine Jesu (Chorus And Soloists)
22.    IVb. Offertorium. Hostias (Chorus)
23.    Lacrimosa (Fragment)  (Chorus)

Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus, K. 618 in D Major
24.    Ave Verum Corpus, K. 618

25.    Bell Strikes

Artist	Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Format	SACD hibrid
Casă de discuri	Reference Recordings
Gen muzical	Muzică clasică