Caldara: Requiem

CALDARA Requiem. Trio Sonata in e. Cello Sonata in A. Missa dolorosa: Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus dei • Daniela Dolci, cond; Musica Fiorita • PAN 10296 (64:34 Text and Translation) (voices and period instruments) When I heard the opening movement of this work, I almost fell off my chair, so similar was it to the iconic Mozart Requiem. Of course, this work, composed 70 years earlier, remains within the realm of soft suspensions, and it does not have the depth or power of the Mozart (as one would have expected), but that momentary piece of déja vu was enough to wonder whether Mozart, in his official (but poorly paid) position of Hofkapellmeister—after all he was appointed Gluck’s successor—had somehow come across the manuscript score of the Caldara, one of his predecessors. All speculation aside, the truth of the matter is that history shrouds both this Requiem and its purpose. To be sure, it is a Mass for the Dead, but whether it was written for the annual All Souls