Durufle: Requiem, Mass-Con Jubilo, Motets / Plasson, von Otter

This is the 1947, full-orchestra version of Maurice Duruflé's Requiem, one of the 20th century's most beloved choral works. It's the first of three versions the composer made of the piece. Despite the enhanced intimacy of the smaller-scale versions, the original offers a rich orchestral tapestry, especially compelling in the performance by Michel Plasson's forces, without diminishing the work's radiant beauties or its spiritual depths. Those virtues are enhanced by the singing of Anne Sofie von Otter and Thomas Hampson. The chorus, a weak element in the Requiem, shines brighter on the rest of the disc, which gathers all of Duruflé's choral music. The Mass is more assertive than the Requiem and should be heard more often. It gets a powerful performance here, as do the miniature Motets, intense in their restrained beauties. --Dan Davis