Giulini: Fauré Requiem and Verdi’s Four Sacred Pieces, 1962

On 30 April 1962, the Royal Festival Hall in London hosted a legendary, spiritually charged concert. Conductor Carlo Maria Giulini led the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus in Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem and Giuseppe Verdi’s Quattro pezzi sacri (Four Sacred Pieces). Captured live by the BBC Third Programme, this historic document preserves an evening of extraordinary choral singing and deep Catholic mysticism.

Though written decades apart, Fauré’s Requiem (first composed in 1888) and Verdi’s Four Sacred Pieces (the first piece composed in 1888) share a deep chronological and spiritual link. Unlike the thunderous, operatic terror found in Verdi’s earlier Messa da Requiem, both of these late-career works focus on inner devotion, humility, and ethereal peace.  Carlo Maria Giulini, known for his deep personal faith and intense rehearsal style, approached these pieces not as dramatic concert spectacles, but as profound religious essays. Working alongside the legendary German chorus master Wilhelm Pitz, Giulini shaped the Philharmonia Chorus into an instrument of singular, homogenous beauty. For the Fauré performance, Pitz famously split the 70-piece choir into a random mixed formation rather than standard voice blocks. This experimental technique blended the vocal registers into a seamless, velvety wall of sound that shines through the mono broadcast.

Fauré famously described his Requiem as a “cradle song of death.” Giulini’s reading embraces this lullaby quality through spacious tempos and long, breathing phrases.
The French baritone Gérard Souzay brings idiomatic elegance and flawless diction to the Offertoire and Libera me. His tone balances solemnity with gentle warmth. A young Janet Baker—billed as a soprano—delivers a landmark performance of the Pie Jesu. Her singing is focused and luminous, carrying a heavy, emotional weight while soaring effortlessly to the top of her register. The Philharmonia Chorus closes the work with a floating, weightless In Paradisum that feels like a quiet departure from the physical world.

For the second half of the program, the choral forces expanded to tackle Verdi’s final compositional testament. This performance captures the pieces with a raw, immediate passion.  In the Ave Maria, sung completely a cappella, the choir navigates the complex, enigmatic scale harmonies with perfect tuning and sustained, quiet intensity.  Giulini brings out the orchestral colours of the Stabat Mater, steering the musicians through the stark, grief-stricken text with sudden, striking dynamic shifts. In the Laudi alla Vergine Maria the women of the Philharmonia Chorus deliver a beautifully blended, reverent performance of this delicate, unaccompanied movement. The Te Deum is the crown jewel of the set. Giulini guides the ensemble from a quiet, plainsong opening to a massive, thundering climax. Janet Baker returns to sing the brief, urgent solo lines near the finish, anchoring a performance that balances holy fear with triumphant praise.

As a live archival document from 1962, this monaural recording carries the limitations of its era. The vast dynamic range demanded by Giulini occasionally pushes the vintage microphones to their limits during the loudest choral peaks of the Te Deum. However, any technical imperfections are easily overshadowed by the sheer magnetism, emotional intimacy, and spiritual focus of the performance. This release stands as a vital testament to a golden era of British choral singing and the vision of an Italian maestro at the height of his musical powers.

Gabriel Fauré (1845 – 1924)

Requiem

Track 1: Introduction

Track 2: Introit et Kyrie

Track 3: Offertorium

Track 4: Sanctus

Track 5: Pie Jesu

Track 6: Agnus Dei

Track 7: Libera Me

Track 8: In Paradisum, applause and closing announcement

Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1901)

Four Sacred Pieces (Quatro Pezzi Sacri)

Track 9: Introduction

Track 10: Ave Maria

Track 11: Stabat Mater

Track 12: Laude alla Vergine Maria

Track 13: Te Deum

This recording was made from a relay of the concert given on April 30 1962 at the Royal Festival Hall.

The recording is in the Tolansky/Tchaikov Collection at Music Preserved