The Herrewghe version is okay - but there is much room for improvement. The Dies Irae feels staid in tempo and choir, though the drums and horns are quite all right. Its biggest problem on the Dies IRae is that the strings sound distant and mushy - I prefer recordings with all the up-close details; the ambience of the hall does nothing for me. If they could record a Mozart Requiem in a studio, with intimate mic placement, that would be my ideal.
Also in that version, the Confutatis - the choir keeps time well, but there is not much "force" coming from them, as if they didn't have the emotion for the piece. And in the Lacrimosa, the midsong crescendo is far too recessed, too muted.
I found a low-quality MP3 once of an amateur performance - of only the Dies Irae and Lacrimosa. The choir didn't keep time very well, but because the micing was very intimate and there was a lot of passion in the singing, it's still the best of all the versions I have - it's just more "moving".
I need a Dies Irae where the strings section sounds as if the players are about to snap their bows through their strings - it needs that much power, that much "heat".
It's been a hard search.
I hate the Evanescense "Lacrimosa", but sometimes modern takes on pieces from Mozart's Requiem can be very interesting. If anyone knows of any particularly good ones, please PM me with them. Thanks.
