Topic: Bach: Mass in B minor

[Sammy]

Since no one's mentioned it, Herreweghe has a third recording out:

(At least an Amazon reviewer says it's a third recording. I hope so because I just ordered it, along with a couple others I missed.)

That's the one PHI recording I haven't acquired yet, and yes, it's Herreweghe's third.

[Mandryka]

I wouldn't call Richter early-HIP but more proto-HIP. He was the first conductor to scale down the chorus, thus allowing faster tempi; however, he resisted the HIP movement once it really kicked off. Of the HIP conductors, Suzuki's debt to Richter is clearly expressed. There are some contrasts in the dynamics of Richter's recordings that aren't performed by anyone else but which Suzuki clearly copies, and to good effect.

Have you heard this?

[KevinP]

Have you heard this?

Yes, I have. I remember preferring the 1961 Richter recording, but in my journey through all the B Minor Mass recordings, I plan on listening to all four Richter recordings back-to-back and comparing them.

[jochanaan]

But Bach was a heretic.  They will be playing it for new arrivals to the other place.

A heretic?  He who wrote "Soli Deo Gloria" on most of his music?  Granted, he had his difficulties with church authorities--but so did many other saints.

[Parsifal]

A heretic?  He who wrote "Soli Deo Gloria" on most of his music?  Granted, he had his difficulties with church authorities--but so did many other saints.

Now, now.  according to the one true faith (Catholic) the Lutheran church itself was heresy.   

[Mandryka]

Yes, I have. I remember preferring the 1961 Richter recording, but in my journey through all the B Minor Mass recordings, I plan on listening to all four Richter recordings back-to-back and comparing them.

I plan on listening to some Richter records over the summer too. Do you know if this book says anything about his ideas?

[knight66]

In any recording of Bach's B minor Mass, we should probably cut the singers some slack.  I've sung it--it's HARD!! And the instrumental parts are no easier.  It's a supreme technical and endurance challenge--but oh, so worth it musically.  I sometimes think that on my entrance to heaven, I'll hear the trumpets from Dona Nobis Pacem.

No, for me, et Resurexit. I agree, very demanding, but i recollect that it was intended as several pieces, then put together. There are many wonderful recording.

Mike

[KevinP]

I plan on listening to some Richter records over the summer too. Do you know if this book says anything about his ideas?

Not familiar with that book but I'd be interested if it does.

[jochanaan]

No, for me, et Resurexit...

Come to think of it, there are several such triumphal moments here.  "Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum," anyone?

[Rinaldo]

Just a heads up on a recent release:

As HIP as it gets.

[HIPster]

Just a heads up on a recent release:

As HIP as it gets.

Count me in!

Has anyone heard this yet?  Rinaldo?

[Rinaldo]

Count me in!

Has anyone heard this yet?  Rinaldo?

Just bits from the rehearsals. I'm hoping to get to it around Christmas.

[jlaurson]

Count me in!

Has anyone heard this yet?  Rinaldo?

Listened to it earlier today... quite nice... indeed very nice. but not a new favorite in its category.
Liked it better than Butt (whose B-Minor is the weak point in his 'triolgoy'), but didn't touch van Veldhoven or Minkowski.

[Mandryka]

Listened to it earlier today... quite nice... indeed very nice. but not a new favorite in its category.
Liked it better than Butt (whose B-Minor is the weak point in his 'triolgoy'), but didn't touch van Veldhoven or Minkowski.

Can you say a bit more about what you didn't like about Butt?  I have reservations myself, about the soloists mainly.

[aquablob]

Can you say a bit more about what you didn't like about Butt?

 

[jlaurson]

Can you say a bit more about what you didn't like about Butt?  I have reservations myself, about the soloists mainly.

Precisely. They offered weak spots in the M-Passion, already, but nothing that worried me in light of the over-all quality. In the B-minor Mass they detracted from the enjoyment. The new St.John is the one I like best of the lot.

[André]

Cross-posted from the WAYL thread:

I bought this to hear the Windsbacher Knabenchor in Bach’s B minor Mass. Boy choristers sing the soprano and alto parts, grown ups make up the tenor and bass contingent. They produce a wonderfully full, transparent and penetrating sound. No haze here, no approximate pitches, no flying sibilants. The orchestra is MI and the performance as a whole is a traditional one in the best sense, with a natural feel to the tempi. At 107 minutes it is in the same time range (105-108 minutes) as Gardiner, Suzuki, Christie, Harnoncourt, Herreweghe, Layton, Jacobs, Brüggen and other period performance practitioners, and 15-30 minutes faster than the avuncular, old fashioned (but spiritually intense) Jochum, Karajan, Klemperer, Richter, Shaw, Scherchen, Munchinger, Giulini. Two very contrasted sets of approaches indeed. I have favourites in both camps, but tend to prefer the first.

[KevinP]

Bach and them were overly dramatic, weren't they?

[Mandryka]

Bach and them were overly dramatic, weren't they?

Very good!

[Verena]

Does anyone know the recording by Dijkstra. I rather liked it on first hearing, somewhat less so the second time.