Mass in B Minor: BBC Legends

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This 1972 Bach B minor Mass, live from St. Paul's Cathedral in London, is far superior to Giulini's Sony recording of the piece made two decades later. This earlier performance is still a reading of fervent spirituality, but there's a verve and forward motion sadly missing from the later studio account. The Credo burns with conviction, the choruses throughout are done with a rhythmic lift, and the solo singing ranges from adequate (soprano Jenny Hill) to superb (the great Janet Baker's Agnus Dei will bring tears to your eyes). The male soloists are fine, though John Shirley-Quirk has passing moments of unsteadiness and the throaty Peter Pears, nearing the end of his long career, takes some getting used to as he replaces tonal allure with interpretive acuity. The stereo sound is slightly grainy but almost up to studio standards, and the interesting filler is a 17-minute conversation with Giulini. This set's a must for Giulini's admirers and ranks among the best available versions of the Mass, a worthy complement to those by Klemperer, Shaw, and Jochum among the traditionalists and Leonhardt, Harnoncourt, and Herreweghe among those of the period-performance persuasion. --Dan Davis

Mass in B Minor: BBC Legends, Music, John Shirley-Quirk, Johann Sebastian Bach, Carlo Maria/Amis, John Giulini, Carlo Maria Giulini, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Jenny Hill, Peter Pears, Chamber Music & Recitals, Choral, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Mass, Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous Music
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis; Schubert: Symphony No. 8; Wagner: A Faust Overture
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Elysium
 Beethoven: Missa Solemnis; Schubert: Symphony No. 8; Wagner: A Faust Overture

Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0002NRRPQ
Release Date: 2004-09-21

Tracks:

  1. I. Kyrie: Assai Sostenuto. Mit Andacht
  2. II. Gloria: Allegro Vivace
  3. III. Credo: Allegro Ma Non Troppo
  4. IV. Sanctus: Adagio. Mit Andacht..

Tracks:

  1. V Agnus Dei: Adagio - Norma Procter
  2. I. Allegro Moderato - BBC Symphony Orchestra
  3. II. Andante Con Moto - BBC Symphony Orchestra
  4. Eine Faust-Ouverture

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Elysium.......2005-06-01

For a long time one could lament the fact that there was no definitive performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis on record, and make do with the best elements of the recordings available: Gardiner's (rather too tidily English) clarity and speed, Karajan's (largely rhetorical, often meaningless) command, Bernstein's (overpushed) heartfelt commitment, and so on. Wilhelm Furtwangler, whom I esteem above all other Beethoven conductors, considered himself inadequate to conduct what Beethoven himself, at least for a time, regarded as his greatest work. We are fortunate that Jascha Horenstein made a very serious attempt at it and that it was recorded. The sound is fairly good mono at best, but you can hear everything, and it is a performance of tremendous power and commitment. Horenstein's formal grasp of this immense piece is obvious from early on and his expressive power is unstinting throughout. The solo singing is particularly fine, and I have never heard any conductor find the through-line of the Agnus Dei/Dona nobis pacem last movement: for a long time I thought that Beethoven, the greatest composer of resounding conclusions, had for once failed to end a work convincingly, but I think it no more. Horenstein partly locates the core of this last music in Beethoven's deep grief over the failure of the democratic possibilities of Europe to which he had given his heart in youth, only to lose them to Bonapartist wars and subsequent repression--a similar feeling powers the transcendent idealism of the last movement of the Ninth--and Horenstein, with his deep experience of the 20th Century's disasters and his capacity for registering depths of despair--think of his great, unsparing BBC recording of Mahler's Ninth--finds a power and continuity in this music that no one else has touched, and the chiming of Pacem, Pacem at the finish no longer sounds tacked on or unachieved but the earned, resounding triumph of Beethoven's visionary, heartfelt, striving artistry. In one of his few obviously Furtwanglerian moves, Horenstein takes a ritardando clearly implied in Beethoven's writing so that the last pages feel like an enormous, fulfilled outbreath of peace and mercy found at the end of long struggle. Eugen Jochum's superb recording of the Missa was only very briefly available on CD, and his full-hearted faith gave wonderful voice to Beethoven's complex utterance, but Horenstein's ability to also confront the annihilation of hope goes beyond Jochum's noble musicmaking to give us a more complete and profound Missa Solemnis, I think, than has been achieved on record by anyone before. No one who loves Beethoven will want to be without this recording. Horenstein's reading of the Unfinished is also very fine.

The preceding paragraph was written when this recording was new to me, over a year ago. Further listening has only increased my appreciation of it. I'd like to correct the overemphasis on the last movement by pointing out the exhilaration of Horenstein's Gloria--not the fastest on record, but the perhaps most electrifying and the best understood (never mind that overexcited tympanist at the end)--and the deep formal intelligence at work in the Credo, for which his slow initial tempo performs a masterstroke analagous to that in the opening of his Mahler 8th. Then there is the astonishing singing of Teresa Stich-Randall, worth the price of admission on its own. The only thing I can say in demurral is that the excellent mono fails to capture the tonal glory of the solo violin in the Benedictus, for which you need another recording, the Jochum if you can find it, or good luck elsewhere. For me, this is simply one of the great recordings of all time.

Third take: I've recently spent some time with James Levine's grand version, which is almost good enough to be a hi-fi stereo backup for the Horenstein--Vienna Philarmonic, star-studded cast, unbelievable chorus, well judged tempos and architectonics--but it sounds to me as if the solo singers, especially Placido Domingo, though Jessye Norman's not far behind, are singing more for themselves than for the music, or--to put it a shade less subjectively--with a continuous breadth of vibrato more appropriate to nineteenth century opera than to what is still, however vastly expanded, a classical idiom. It's a glamorous, Hollywoodish performance of high quality that provides the histrionics and gilds the surfaces with greater attention than it gives to the depths, where Horenstein is still, as far as I know, unmatched. Also, surprisingly, the vibrato of the solo violin in the Benedictus is so broad that most of the music is effectively out of tune. On the other hand, I'm warming to the Herrweghe recording, which has always seemed a mite underpowered but now comes as something of a relief. Horenstein still rules, and I hope they'll bring back the Jochum.
Mass in B Minor: BBC Legends
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • superb
 Mass in B Minor: BBC Legends
Janet Baker , and New Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra
Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by J.S. BachAll Works by J.S. Bach | Bach, Johann Sebastian | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B00005A3MG
Release Date: 2001-06-26

Tracks:

  1. Kyrie (Missa)
  2. Kyrie (Missa)
  3. Kyrie (Missa)
  4. Gloria
  5. Gloria
  6. Gloria
  7. Gloria
  8. Gloria
  9. Gloria
  10. Gloria
  11. Gloria
  12. Gloria

Tracks:

  1. Credo (Symbolum Nicenum)
  2. Credo (Symbolum Nicenum)
  3. Credo (Symbolum Nicenum)
  4. Credo (Symbolum Nicenum)
  5. Credo (Symbolum Nicenum)
  6. Credo (Symbolum Nicenum)
  7. Credo (Symbolum Nicenum)
  8. Credo (Symbolum Nicenum)
  9. Credo (Symbolum Nicenum)
  10. Sanctus
  11. (Osanna. Benedictus)
  12. (Osanna. Benedictus)
  13. (Osanna. Benedictus)
  14. Agnus Dei (et Dona nobis pacem)
  15. Agnus Dei (et Dona nobis pacem)
  16. Carlo Maria Giulini in conversation with John Amis

Amazon.com

This 1972 Bach B minor Mass, live from St. Paul's Cathedral in London, is far superior to Giulini's Sony recording of the piece made two decades later. This earlier performance is still a reading of fervent spirituality, but there's a verve and forward motion sadly missing from the later studio account. The Credo burns with conviction, the choruses throughout are done with a rhythmic lift, and the solo singing ranges from adequate (soprano Jenny Hill) to superb (the great Janet Baker's Agnus Dei will bring tears to your eyes). The male soloists are fine, though John Shirley-Quirk has passing moments of unsteadiness and the throaty Peter Pears, nearing the end of his long career, takes some getting used to as he replaces tonal allure with interpretive acuity. The stereo sound is slightly grainy but almost up to studio standards, and the interesting filler is a 17-minute conversation with Giulini. This set's a must for Giulini's admirers and ranks among the best available versions of the Mass, a worthy complement to those by Klemperer, Shaw, and Jochum among the traditionalists and Leonhardt, Harnoncourt, and Herreweghe among those of the period-performance persuasion. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars superb.......2005-12-29

This version -- recorded in St. Paul's Cathedral in London in 1972 -- of the Mass in B Minor is wonderful. It's slightly dated now but the BBC technical team have done a superb job with the remastering of the sound. There's a reason it has been included in the BBC Legends series. You don't have to be a fan of Giulini (I have been delighted by everything I have that he has had a part in) to be interested in this excellent double CD.
Mozart: Piano Sonata K. 283, Rachmaninov: Etudes-tableaux, Scriabin, etc.
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Mozart: Piano Sonata K. 283, Rachmaninov: Etudes-tableaux, Scriabin, etc.
    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Peter Tchaikovsky , and Sergei Rachmaninov
    Manufacturer: BBC Legends
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    ASIN: B00005Q5LP
    Release Date: 2001-11-20

    Tracks:

    1. I. Allegro
    2. II. Andante
    3. III. Presto
    4. No.5: May. Starlight Night
    5. No.6: June. Barcarolle
    6. No.11: November. In A Troika
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    13. III. Allegro Con Brio, Ma Non Leggiero
    Mass in B Minor
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • One to Treasure Forever
    		 Mass in B Minor
    J.S. Bach , Danco , Ferrier , Pears , and Enescu
    Manufacturer: BBC Legends
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
    ASIN: B00000I9WZ
    Release Date: 1999-03-23

    Tracks:

    1. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Kyrie - No.1 Chorus: 'Kyrie eleison' - Johann Sebastian Bach
    2. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Kyrie - No.2 Duet: 'Christe eleison' - Johann Sebastian Bach
    3. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Kyrie - No. 3 Chorus: 'Kyrie eleison' - Johann Sebastian Bach
    4. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Gloria - No.4 Chorus: 'Gloria in excelsis' - Johann Sebastian Bach
    5. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Gloria - No.5 Chorus: 'Et in terra pax' - Johann Sebastian Bach
    6. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Gloria - No.6 Arria: 'Laudamus te' - Johann Sebastian Bach
    7. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Gloria - No.7 Chorus: 'Gratias agimus tibi' - Johann Sebastian Bach
    8. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Gloria - No.8 Duet: 'Domine Deus' - Johann Sebastian Bach
    9. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Gloria - No.9 Chorus: 'Qui tollis peccata mundi' - Johann Sebastian Bach
    10. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Gloria - No.10 Aria: 'Qui sedes as sextram Patris' - Johann Sebastian Bach
    11. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Gloria - No.11 Aria: 'Quoniam tu solus sanctus' - Johann Sebastian Bach
    12. Mass In B Minor, BWV 232: I Missa: Gloria - No.12 Chours: 'Cum Sancto Spiritu' - Johann Sebastian Bach

    Tracks:

    1. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: II Symbolum Nicenum: Credo - No.13 Chorus: 'Credo in unum Deum' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    2. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: II Symbolum Nicenum: Credo - No.14 Chorus: 'Patrem Omnipotentem' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    3. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: II Symbolum Nicenum: Credo - No.15 Duet: 'Et in unum Dominum' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    4. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: II Symbolum Nicenum: Credo - No.16 Chorus: 'Et incarnatus est' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    5. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: II Symbolum Nicenum: Credo - No.17 Chorus: 'Crucifixus' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    6. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: II Symbolum Nicenum: Credo - No.18 Chorus: 'Et resurrexit' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    7. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: II Symbolum Nicenum: Credo - No.19 Aria: 'Et in Spiritum Sanctum' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    8. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: II Symbolum Nicenum: Credo - No.20 Chorus: 'Confiteor' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    9. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: II Symbolum Nicenum: Credo - No.21 Chorus: 'Et exspecto resurrectionem' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    10. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: III Sanctus - No.22 Chorus: 'Sanctus' - No.23 Chorus: 'Pleni sunt coeli' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    11. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: IV Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem - No.24 Chorus I, II: 'Osanna in excelsis' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    12. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: IV Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem - No.25 Aria: 'Benedictus qui venit' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    13. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: IV Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem - No.26 Aria: 'Agnus Dei' - ENESCU/FERRIER
    14. Mass In B Minor, BWV232: IV Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem - No.27 Chorus: 'Dona nobis pacem' - ENESCU/FERRIER

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars One to Treasure Forever.......2007-05-24

    Without question George Enescu was one of the most prodigiously gifted musical minds of the 20th Century: he not only distinguished himself as a composer, violinist and conductor, but was also an accomplished pianist, able cellist and renowned violin teacher. Yehudi Menuhin, his most famous pupil, often spoke of "the Century of Enescu", referring to the twenty-first Century as the time in which his genius will, at last, be given its full and well-deserved, world-wide recognition.

    In radio conversations recorded in 1952 by Bernard Gavoty for the French Radio (and recently translated for the first time in English by Prof. David H. Williams and published by Central College, Pella, Iowa), Enescu fondly talked about his favorite composers as being the three big B's: Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Having said that, Enescu had a special affinity for Bach, and indeed, if one researches the catalogue of recordings that Enescu left behind, Bach appears more often than any composer including Enescu himself.

    This BBC recording of Bach's glorious Mass in B Minor from 1951 is arguably Enescu's most important legacy on record in the field of conducting. His unique interpretation, passionate and spiritual approach to the score, subtle and delicate directing of the orchestra, coupled with wonderful and superb singers (Suzanne Danco, Kathleen Ferrier, Sir Peter Pears, Bruce Boyce and Norman Walker), all at the top of their form, along with a very capable and confident BBC Chorus and a Boyd Neel Orchestra never sounding better, are all attributes that make this recording a very special one, and one to treasure forever.

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