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Otto Olsson: Requiem - Ohlson

Otto Olsson: Requiem - Ohlson

Proprius  PRSACD9086

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Vocal


Otto Olsson: Requiem

Sylvia Lindenstrand
Inger Blom
Björn Haugan
Olle Sköld
Gustaf Vasa Oratorio Choir
Royal Opera Orchestra
Anders Ohlson (conductor)

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Review by John Miller - October 24, 2012

Outside his native Sweden, the name of composer Otto Olsson (1879-1964) is hardly known. Yet, as the last of Sweden's truly Late Romantic composers, his organ music and some choral pieces are still a familiar part of worship in his native land. Beyond that, there are a good number of recordings of his organ pieces and some of his choral works.

Olsson held the position of organist at the Gustaf Vasa Church in Stockholm (where this recording was made) from 1907-1956, a remarkable achievement in itself. He also taught at the Stockholm Music Conservatory for some 40 years.

Most of his compositions were produced in his youth; being something of a dinosaur in the Swedish musical establishment, he was became discouraged and also deep in self-criticism, so as time went on, his output diminished drastically. His crowning achievements as a composer are probably the tremendous Second Organ Symphony (Credo Symphoniacum), and a dark Prelude and Fugue no. 2 in F sharp minor for organ, both written in 1918. Some would add the Requiem as an outstanding composition. It was 1901 when he began the work at the age of 22, having finished his Conservatoire studies, his mind bursting to realise his new knowledge of counterpoint and also with eagerness to tackle large-scale choral and orchestral pieces.

As noted in the insert booklet, Olsson might have been inspired by performances of the Brahms and Verdi Requiems which took place in Stockholm in 1900. But there is little solid evidence of either's style in his Requiem music; he was instead an admirer of French Romantics such as Franck, Widor and Vierne. His layout of the traditional sections of the Requiem Mass is laid out in a very similar way to Mozart's Requiem, with Kyrie, 'Rex tremendae', 'Recordare', 'Confutatis' and 'Domine Jesu' all separate movements. There is also a clear transition from the Requiem's initial sorrow and pain of loss to a broader, lighter mood, in which solace and celestial light is expansively portrayed, expressing joy at God's gift of eternal life for the departed soul. Using his remarkable melodic gift, he therefore produced a Requiem of considerable drama, sincerity and solace, eschewing the facile tunes and over-sentimentality of some contemporary Requiems, who sadly gain more attention through present-day mass media promotion.

The performance captured here took place in 1993 and featured the Gustaf Vasa Oratorio Choir, based in the church of that name (that of King Gustav I, whose family name was Vasa). They were accompanied by the Royal Opera Orchestra, Stockholm and conducted by Anders Ohlson who has been choirmaster and organist of the church since 1982. The choir are clearly deeply involved in Olsson's lyrical and often challenging choral writing, delivering an excellent performance all round. An splendid solo quartet was formed from some of Sweden's most in-demand operatic singers of the time; Sylvia Lindenstrand (soprano), Inger Blom (mezzo-soprano, Björn Haugan (tenor) and Olle Sköld (Bass). The soloists, while each having distinctive voices, blend beautifully in the tapestry of Olsson's intricate contrapuntal sections, drawing the utmost emotion and affect from their solos.

The Requiem was first issued as a digital stereo RBCD in 1993. It was re-issued after re-mastering for SA-CD surround sound 4.0 in 2006. The original digital recording was done on a Fostex D20B DAT with an AKG C426 microphone in M/S mode and a SAB 82 mixer. According to the handbook, the Fostex recorded at 44.1/48kHz and 16 bits. The church acoustic (well-known by Olsson) is quite reverberant, and a presumably digital method was used to synthesize rear speakers for a 4.0 mix which is quite convincing, adding much to the recording's atmosphere and bringing out some detail compared with the RBCD layer. Engineer Bertil Gripe used Calrec microphones as "support for the orchestra". Unfortunately, this had the effect of bringing forward the woodwind solos, taking them out of the coherent acoustic perspective provided by the AKG C426 and bringing them rather too obviously forward, where some (brief) slight tuning differences between instruments are made obvious. Otherwise, the balances are good, although the soprano seems to be brought a little further forward than the other soloists, making her crescendos rather out of proportion to the overall ensemble. Nevertheless, despite the somewhat grainy overall character of the 16 bit sound, the remix is very listen-able.

The disc's booklet is all in English, with an informative commentary on the Requiem, and texts of the Mass, although only in Latin. A summing up by conductor Anders Ohlson emphasises the lack of histrionic assertiveness as in Verdi's Requiem, or the saccharine gentility of Fauré's. "Light, spirit, life. strength, sincere comfort, profound beauty - for me it has been a gift of inspiration to be able to immerse myself in Olsson's Requiem. He goes on to say "This amazingly mature composition, written when Otto Olsson was a mere twenty-three years old, has an indisputable place among the great international sacred symphonic choral works". Truly it is an optimistic and forward-looking Requiem.

Despite minor blemishes and a relatively low resolution, the quality of both music and performance certainly justify Proprius bringing this archive forward to our attention once more. Those who are collecting Requiems should certainly add it to their collection, and I urge listeners with an interest in Romantic sacred choral music to listen to this example of Otto Olsson's superb music, hoping that this disc of his Requiem will urge them to discover more of it.

Copyright © 2012 John Miller and HRAudio.net