Customer Reviews

Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV 232

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

 

 

I didn't expect to find a b-minor mass leaving no wishes open. But here it is! I have a great collection of classical music, including a lot of Bach recordings, among them three b-minor masses. Still it is rare that receiving one CD box makes me so happy! Everything here, down to the last detail, is wonderful! It's like a dream comes true. Occasions like this make me wish for more stars to give; the star inflation at Amazon make us miss stars when something really great occurs.
I wonder if I will ever listen to another version of this opus magnus...

This recording together with the Jochum version is one if not the best recording of this work. A modern instrument version which sounds at the right moments like a period instrument one (vibrato controlled) is perfect. See my review of Gardiner's version for more details of this recording.

Among my six b minor mass recordings are Gardiner's and Klemperer's, so I am not easily impressed when I encounter a recording new to me. I purchased this set on the basis of Rilling's reputation as a Bach scholar and on the strength of several of his cantata sets. After the first hearing, I moved it to the top of my collection. Now, after several more times listening to it, I am in awe of Rilling's accomplishment. His soloists and choir are top drawer, his orchestral support even more so. The brass section especially plays with a gusto and clarity that is unmatched anywhere. Rilling has achieved a grandeur that is clearer than Klemperer and a fuller, more reverential, sound than Gardiner. Although all three are five star recordings, even in, as noted in a prior review, Amazon's vastly inflated ratings, I now find that i am going to Rilling's set for both enjoyment and study. I recommend it with great enthusiasm.

I got my copy from Border's Books and Music in Mesa, AZ. I found it to br one of the most sublime interpretations of this ultimate pinnacle in Latin figural music written by a Lutheran. Herr Rilling outdoes himself. I especially liked his treatment of the "Et Incarnatus" and "Crucifixus" movements in the Credo. In this recording, Rilling brings out all of Bach's power and sublimity.

Rilling's Bach cycle is to behold, and his 1999 B Minor Mass is perhaps its crowning glory. Listening to this recording is a truly transcendent experience, incapable of expression in words. There are, of course, other notable recordings: Gardiner's (arguably the best period instrument performance), Goehr's (a legendary Dutch performance from 1960 - unavailable on the internet), Bruggen's (a live performance on period instruments from the early 1990s - also seemingly unavailable on the internet) and Munchinger's (the great German conductor directs an inspired perfomance with larger forces).

Rilling's eclipses all of those recordings. His musicians and choir are technically brilliant, and most importantly they have a thorough understanding of the divine beauty of the composition. The "Et in terra pax," "Cum Sancto Spiritu" and "Crucifixus" are exquisite and stirring.

Many thanks to those whose efforts brought about this masterpiece (Bach, Rilling, et al).

This is one of the greatest major choral works in the history of western music. Helmuth Rilling is the master of all things Bach and despite the use of grammatical latin versus real latin, this is the finest reocrding of the B Minor Mass I have ever heard!