Bach Mass in B minor

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach

Genre:

Vocal

Label: BBC Music Legends/IMG Artists

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 77

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: BBCL4062-2

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
Mass Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Carlo Maria Giulini, Conductor
Janet Baker, Mezzo soprano
Jenny Hill, Soprano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
John Shirley-Quirk, Baritone
New Philharmonia Chorus
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Peter Pears, Tenor
In these days of period-instrument hegemony in the performance of Bach, this ‘old-fashioned’ B minor Mass may be considered an anachronism among younger collectors, but it has its own validity in terms of Giulini’s absolute commitment to the work in hand and in the thoroughness of the execution. Dare one say that all too many performances of the work today sound cool and insubstantial beside it, and why should we try to ape so slavishly the practices of Bach’s time, when his music was probably done in a fairly haphazard, ill-rehearsed manner?
The downside of the large-scale approach can be heard in the somewhat lumbering account of ‘Qui tollis’, its upside in the grave, measured ‘Gratias agimus’ where the successive entries of the same idea are unerringly propelled. ‘Et incarnatus est’ and ‘Crucifixus’ in the Credo have a wonderful inwardness, the ‘Sanctus’ a power unavailable to a smaller choir. Were he living today, Bach would probably have loved this dedicated performance. As for the faster, exhilarating movements, such as ‘Cum sancto spiritu’ and ‘Et resurrexit’, the vintage New Philharmonia Chorus is fleetness itself.
When it comes to the soloists this performance wins hands down over authenticity. A day or two before hearing this recording, I listened to a Matthew Passion on BBC Radio 3 where the soloists drawn from a (not very good) choir sounded thin and etiolated. By comparison, Janet Baker, on top form, is warm, vibrant, above all communicative with her words. Shirley-Quirk, in both his solos, is confident and bold in his vocal projection, secure and full in tone. There is no-one to match them today. Jenny Hill sings purely and with fresh feeling. Only Peter Pears, already in his sixties, is disappointing. He has to husband what remains of his resources.
The recording catches both the St Pauls’ reverberation and the sense of a notable occasion. BBC Legends’ Achilles Heel is again in evidence in the absence of the text. Richard Osborne, whose note is otherwise illuminating, fails to give us much information about, or comment on, the performance itself

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