Customer Reviews

Bach - Mass in b minor / Heaston · Hanslowe · Rabiner · M. Tucker · N. Berg · Boston Baroque · Pearlman

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been secretly hoping that Boston Baroque would record the Bach B Minor Mass for some time now. I knew that they could present this great work in a clear, precise and emotional way. I have not been disappointed. Anyone familiar with previous recordings of Martin Pearlman and Boston Baroque (i.e. Handel's Messiah, Monteverdi's Vespers) knows what Pearlman and his group are capable of. Once again they deliver. I have heard (and own) almost all of the early music performances of this gigantic work and have found true satisfaction here, where most of the others always had some weakness along the way(with the exception of the Gardiner recording). Don't hesitate to leap at this recording. Onward Boston Baroque and I hope that there is a recording of some Handel oratorio in the near future. Having heard this group live many times, I know that they have a great repertoire under their belts which is just waiting to be committed to CD. Also kudos to Telarc for pricing the two CDs for the cost of one. Making great music more affordable to the public is something more CD companies should be doing.

When I think of all the things Bach accomplished in his life in music, the one aspect that continually amazes me is his ability to write choral music. The Mass in b Minor is in fact a major work. Pearlman brings all the elements together to have an end product of sheer beauty and listening enjoyment. Telarc did something outstanding on the recording of this work. This new DSD technology is superb. In this recording, there is increased clarity, brilliance, presence, and dynamics---in short a truer sound. The Boston Baroque plays excellently (if that is a real adverb). Compare this "period instrument" recording with what you may have and see for yourself----this new release is awesome.

It seems that popular opinion has decreed for the B minor mass to be played with utmost gravity and weight. It should ALWAYS sound "German." It should ALWAYS sound "Baroque" in the literary sense. The drama and the agony must be placed-- ALWAYS--in the foreground. Personally, I think this performance practice should not ALWAYS apply to masterworks like the Bach's B minor mass. Many of those so-called definitive versions (Jochum, Shaw, Karajan, etc.) have wearied me so to the point of distraction with their hyperintensive seriousnesses and slow, teutonic pull. This is a new age, by crackey: I believe "church music" should be presented more directly and more humanely, sporting a less arch-romantic point of view.

(And let's remember, people, the Bach's B-minor mass is first and foremost a MASS, not a REQUIEM. A powerfully involved, nonliturgical mass, perhaps, but still a MASS in it's practical construction and use!)

Once or twice, I've heard this work proclaimed as the "holy of holies" of Lutheran choral composition. I might give in to that concession, for perhaps it is. But couldn't someone come along and simply lighten up the textures a bit, push the tempos just a tad, and subdue the dramatic voguing associated with traditional practice? Couldn't the conductor and the ensemble allow the words, music, and structural designs of the KYRIE, the CRUCIFIXUS, the ET RESERREXIT, and the SANCTUS speak for themselves? (I think, Rifkin may have attempted a "clearer" version during the 70s, by placing one voice, instrumental or otherwise, to a part!)

But at last and finally, Maestro Martin Perlman and his wonderful Boston Baroque have heard and answered my prayers for a more direct--dare I say it? almost AMERICAN-- interpretation. And I return to my CD player with fresh, interested ears. The notes themselves now seem to witness directly of God's prevenient grace unaffected by the private dramaturgy of conductors of an earlier age.

Thank you, Boston Baroque. And for those of you (trads) who cry "Blasphemy, Blasphemy" to Messr Perlman's performance choices, I only have to say to you: Bad putty tat. Bad. You should be ashamed.

To be brief: overall its a good performance. Its a worthy recording and would make a fine addition to your collection now that Telarc is defunct and prices are lowered. The recorded sound has the feel of a live performance as opposed to a studio recording, but is certainly better than one might actually hear in a live setting. Pearlman pays attention to period styling and respects the composer's intentions.

On the negative side, the tenors are way too light and do not match the resonance or sonority of the other voices. Without delving into speculative reasons (some of these reviewers are so naive!), there is a recorded balance problem here. The basses are too distant and the overall clarity is muffled. Detail is lost. Its always difficult to strike a balance between proper small forces like this and hall resonance. Its a rare Telarc miss.

But all in all, this recording is worth having. There is no perfect b minor. This one ranks high.

Gardiner's classic reading with the English Baroque Soloists is the unavoidable point of comparison for any period instrument reading of the Bach B Minor Mass, and Pearlman and the Boston Baroque measure up admirably to Gardiner's definitive account. Where Gardiner's is an exuberant, dramatic performance, Pearlman's interpretation finds instead a sense of contented calm, a spiritual inner peace. There is less edge-of-your seat euphoria, and more of a joyful, peaceful glow from within. (This is particularly true in the Kyrie and Gloria sections; Pearlman's reading is more animated and dramatic in the Credo---thus it seemed to me that for Pearlman, the Credo is the piece's center of gravity.) True enough, Gardiner's is the greater reading (indeed, it is one of history's greatest performances of any repertoire), but Pearlman's remains a performance of the first order.

For Pearlman this is more a choral piece than an orchestral piece. The voices outbalance the instruments almost two to one much of the time, where for Gardiner the balance favors the orchestra, often to the same extent. Though it's interesting to note that other reviewers here do not agree with me about this. I suppose that in a huge score such as this, as is often commented with regard to different interpretations of the Mahler symphonies, there are almost endless possible choices of textural emphasis; perhaps everyone has their favorite orchestral passages in this piece, and will find the orchestra overbalanced if those are not the orchestral passages that are emphasized. I must admit that I missed the instruments in places. I am a trumpet player myself, and was especially interested to hear the Boston Baroque's first trumpeter, Friedemann Immer, play the first trumpet parts here. Together with Crispian Steele-Perkins and Niklas Eklund, Immer is amongst the world's elite exponents of the valveless Baroque trumpet, and has recorded the best performance of the Bach 2nd Brandenburg Concerto we have. But he is generally kept well in the background here, even in extended, important solo trumpet passages, such as in Credo in unum Deum.

This is a very good performance of this great work. It is not as transcendent as others, but seems more about energy and vitality than plumbing the depths of spiritual feeling. The soloists are all excellent, the conducting keeps things moving along, and this recording is at its very best in the movements such as the Gloria and even the Credo. The approach Pearlman takes in the first Kyrie lets you know that this is not going to be Klemperer, Gardiner, or especially not Herrewhege (whose approach, though beautiful, I find, finally, too soft).

The only problem I have with the disk is, I think, in the way it was miked. It is just strange at times how an individual voice in the small choir will pop out, yet the entire bass section is often less present than a cello doubling them. The voices all sound young, but a conductor would understand that and work out the balance by asking them to sing out.

The soaring trumpet in the final Donna Nobis (and its earlier statement) is powerful, but across the room and the tympani sound like they are kind of off stage. We hear their boom, but do not hear the articulation clearly. Given the fine ensemble of the group and the apparent skill of the conductor, it is hard from me to blame him in not knowing how to balance the group. Did they have a recording engineer who was unfamiliar with the work?

Anyway, it doesn't sound BAD, just not as clear or as powerful as one would like. However, for the price, it is a very good buy.

The orchestra is very good and is easy to hear throughout.

The Boston Baroque has given us a wonderful, beautiful performance of one of Bach's masterpeices.

The music on the CD is well peroformed and the recording quality is excellent. The Mass in B minor is one of the greatest artworks of western civillization, and this is a wonderful performance of it.

I own over 200 CDs of everything from Palestrina and Pope Gregory, to Mahler, Widor, Dupre, and Vaughan Williams, and I have to say this is the ultimate recording in my collection. Maestro Pearlman was reading Bach's mind on this one...It is, I believe, how Mr. Bach would have wanted it. Thank you Maestro Pearlman, thank you.

I have long been searching for a new recording of the Bach Mass. After giving this a spin, I was very disappointed. The chorus is nearly non-existant. I do not know if this is a recording balance problem or a musical problem. But this IS a choral work. One wants the chorus to have some presence. You will not find it in this recording. At times the nattering of inner woodwind parts is given more weight in the mix than the chorus. The result is that at times the chorus is more of an obligato than is is the primary focus (as it should be).

If you are searching for a fine recording of Sebastian Bach's masterpiece, then this isn't it.

This recording pales in comparison to Gardiner's magnificent percormance. The sound is muddy, the instrumental playing dull and blurry, and the choir lacking in attack and verve. Forget about it. (I bought it because I was so impressed with this group's work with the Mozart Requiem, which I still enjoy every much.)