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Here is an unerringly traditional view of Bach's Mass in B Minor, using a big-sounding chorus (building, edifice-like in the "Gratias agimus tibi," rising magnificently in "Cum Sancto Spiritu," accompanied by bullish brass playing) and a modern-instrument orchestra securely underpinned by a bracing continuo line. Rilling's soloists, too, are the antithesis of the androgynous, slightly anonymous voices so often encountered in period-instrument performances (witness the soprano duet in the "Christe," where the two voices are clearly differentiated and they sound like
female voices, not flutey trebles). Speeds tend to be unrushed (not unreasonable in a work of this gravitas), in some cases positively stately, and always avoiding the suspicion, sometimes encountered, that the instrumentalists can't quite keep up with the conductor. There is plenty of fine solo work from both singers and players, such as Andreas Schmidt's "Et in Spiritum Sanctum," the solo violin in "Laudamus te," or the oboe d'amore in "Qui sedes." Altogether a worthwhile addition to the catalogue and sure to appeal to anyone wanting a recording of this work that is neither old-fashioned nor slavishly authentic.
--Harriet Smith
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