Antonin Dvorák: Requiem, Op. 89 ( NTSC) (Arthaus DVD)

Antonín Dvorák
REQUIEM, Op. 89

Gabriela Benacková (soprano), Ida Kirilová (alto)
Josef Protschka (tenor), Ludek Vele (bass)
The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
The Prague Philharmonic Chorus (Lubomír Mátl, répétiteur)
Václav Neumann, conductor
Recording live at the St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, 1988

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo
Region code: 0
Subtitle Languages: English, German, French, Spanish
Menu Languages: English, German, French, Spanish
Running time: 97 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)
Arthaus Musik presents a historical recording and an outstanding performance of this choral masterpiece conducted by Václav Neumann - for the first time on DVD.

Dvorák had a close affinity with church music from his earliest days. At the age of 16 he transferred to the ’Prague Organ School’, where he received a thorough grounding in church music. His first job as organist at St. Adalbert’s Church in Prague provided the young composer and his wife with much-needed financial security. During this period, most of his output consisted of church music, and as a practising Catholic he was keen to revive the moribund Bohemian tradition in this field.

However, as it turned out, his major religious works in addition to the Requiem - the 149th Psalm, Te Deum and Stabat Mater - were not written for church performance but rather for the concert hall. With his Requiem, there is no doubt that Dvorák created the sort of major choral work that his English friends had been hoping for.