Beethoven: Missa Solemnis / Mei, Lipovsek, Rolfe Johnson, Holl; Harnoncourt
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CD Details
Performer: Ludwig van BeethovenPerformer: Chamber Orchestra Of Europe
Performer: Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Edition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 1993-03-09
Music Label: Warner Music France
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Nr. 1 Kyrie
- Nr. 2 Gloria
- Nr. 3 Credo
- Nr. 4 Sanctus
- Benedictus
- Nr. 5 Agnus Dei
Music reviews of Beethoven: Missa Solemnis / Mei, Lipovsek, Rolfe Johnson, Holl; Harnoncourt
Music Review: Period or perfect?
Rating: 5 Stars
What could Beethoven possibly have gone on to write after the 9th Symphony? Well, the Missa Solemnis of course. If you're not familiar with this piece, imagine the choral finale of the 9th multiplied by 7....:-)
Nicholas Harnoncourt is probably unique among conductors in being both a stickler for authenticity and period instruments and a believer in the "big sound". A contradiction in terms you might think. Well, you might ask did audiences at the beginning of the 19th century want a "small" sound? Harnoncourt is helped in this case by the fact that the major instrument in this huge piece is the human voice and from the Arnold Schoenberg choir he badgers a truly enormous effort. As a performer I can testify how exhausting this piece is to sing and no doubt modern technology has come to his rescue by allowing pauses between the almighty sections, which would never have been possible in live performance. The second section, "Gloria", for example, is as big as the finale of the Choral symphony, with which it incidentally shares a lot in common.
But this music is not just about grandeur. Like the late string quartets, with which there are many fascinating comparisons, there is also a lot of thought-provoking and meditative music and this performance knows exactly when to pull in and pull out. One tiny example - right at the end of the Gloria: there is a line where the sopranos float up to be taken across by the flutes. On this recording you are not aware of the transition and the human voice blends in completely with the instrument. That is the hallmark of a great conductor and a great performance.
This is unique piece and there is nothing else quite like it in anybody's repertoire. Beethoven was, by all accounts, not an especially pious man, and his personal beliefs may have been distinctly unorthodox, but he saw in the structural oddness of the Catholic Mass an unique opportunity and this is the result.This was the first time I had heard this conductor in a major piece. I am now seriously looking at his recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies.
Description of Beethoven: Missa Solemnis / Mei, Lipovsek, Rolfe Johnson, Holl; Harnoncourt
Beethoven conceived this piece for a liturgical ceremony--the elevation of his friend and patron Archduke Rudolf to high ecclesiastical office--but in the end delivered the music several years late. During that time, the piece had grown beyond the limitations of an actual service and become something else entirely. Like Bach's B-minor Mass, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis is one of the most gigantic settings of the text in existence, and one of the most difficult choral works ever for the singers. Nikolaus Harnoncourt's performance seems to thrive on the challenge. He directs an exciting and very human interpretation that's sung with impressive fervor and played to the hilt. This is the real McCoy. --David HurwitzGeneral CDs
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