Although he tried several times, Herbert von Karajan never surpassed his 1947 account of Eine Deutsches Requiem with the Vienna Philharmonic, a reading of fervent, post-war intensity. The closest he came in the stereo era was his 1976 remake with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Singverein, which remained his favorite chorus over the years. The account is interpretively consistent with Karajan"s view of the symphonies and with the earlier reading of the Requiem--a polished, firmly sculpted, dramatic rendition that as usual with Karajan, and in spite of the fact that the tempos are on the slow side, has real grip. José Van Dam delivers impassioned accounts of his solos, and Anna Tomowa-Sintow is radiant in "Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit." The sound is excellent--not always a guarantee with EMI in the 1970s. --Ted Libbey