The mantra of historical performance practice has long since prevailed in classical music. Hardly any listener is left amazed by the sound of the harpsichord in Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier or the bright cornetts in Monteverdi’s works. When it comes to Giuseppe Verdi’s works, this aspect is relatively new since, by the end of the 19th century, the modern orchestra had supposedly become firmly established.

With the Mendelssohn Orchestra, which specialises in historical performance practice, David Timm has an ensemble at his disposal that can recreate the timbres intended by the composer down to the last detail. Therefore, this recording of the Requiem is particularly captivating due to the mixture of youthful choral voices, great vocal soloists and an instrumentation as Verdi had in mind.