This must surely be the just about the toughest nut our period performers have yet attempted to crack: a work far from the norms of the musical language of its time, and one whose visionary quality can often prove elusive. As usual with period-instrument versions, this one gains substantially from its early audible detail, important in a work of often very complex textures in which the inner threads, if they can be heard, are telling and expressive. This goes not only for the big fugal numbers but also for such passages as the ''Et incarnatus'' and particularly the ''Crucifixus''; I cannot recall hearing so much of the music before, even in concert performances—this is a product not only of present-day recording techniques but also of the pared-down sound produced by the Hanover Band players on classical-period instruments. The listener will note above all the sharper cutting edge of the brass, which several times adds drama (or rather, restores it: for this is what Beethoven envisaged), the hard, clattery sound of the timpani (prominent in this score) and the incisive string tone. Even in the loudest tuttis, the violin line, often high-pitched and fast-moving, comes clearly through; some may even feel that it is a shade too edgy, and perhaps more forward in the perspective of the recording than it might ideally have been. There are some movements where I should have liked to hear the woodwind more clearly in the fully scored music, but I am prepared to believe that the balance is quite a natural one.
The extra audibility of the music does make this performance more vivid and immediate than most. It does not necessarily make it a great performance, and I have to say that, as far as such matters as broad rhythmic control and the management of large-scale tensions is concerned, Terje Kvam is not a powerful competitor with the other more famous conductors who have recorded the Missa solemnis. There are imperfections of ensemble and generally the great moments lack the grandeur and nobility they should have (and that has nothing to do with period instruments). The Oslo Cathedral Choir, of just under 60 singers, make a good showing their modest size and good ensemble ensure clean textures. The sense of strain for the sopranos is at times palpable, as Beethoven hoists them up to the top of their compass and holds them there, but that is implicit in what he wrote and with these modest forces the sound is less cushioned. Some of the singers are perhaps over-parted: Marianne Hirsti make a pleasant, bright Nordic sound, if lacking the ideal concentration of line, while Andrew Murgatroyd, though tasteful and accurate, does not arise to the heroic and visionary demands of the important tenor part. Carolyn Watkinson (though once or twice sounding uncharacteristically plummy and vibrant, in the old English contralto mode) and Michael George are generally impressive. Roy Goodman's handling of the violin solo in the Benedictus is very appealing gentle, light, relaxed, warm and sweet of tone. And the passage immediately preceding the instrumental Praeludium, gains enormously from the vibrato-free string sound, having an evanescent glow that is quite breathtaking. This may not be the ultimate Missa solemnis, but there is certainly much in it that those who love and revere the work should not fail to hear.'