Customer Reviews

Bach In Notre-Dame De Paris: Mass in B Minor - John Nelson

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

 

 

This is the one. In describing why, I'll make reference to Herbert Blomstedt's Leipzig DVD, which is the second best, and also well worth having. Will also refer to John Eliot Gardiner's audio CD, which I think is the best of the CDs.

The choral singing in this DVD is spectacular--it is the heart and soul of this DVD. The instrument playing is excellent too, but at this level you expect that. What makes this particular singing get inside me is the same thing that Gardiner and the Monte Verdi choir achieve in his audio CD--the pinpoint attack and total commitment, with nothing held back or tentative. The effect is soaring and ecstatic, for example, in the Gloria in excelsis Deo; Et in terra pax; the Cum sancto spiritu; Et resurrexit; and Et expecto resurrectionem. The women sing like angels; it is incandescent at times. You cannot help but be moved.

The choral singing is woven with the instrument playing to great effect. To take one example....Those who know Gardiner's CD will remember the scintillating Cum Sancto Spiritu--where the chorus and the instruments (especially the trumpets) remain crystal clear, distinct from each other, and balanced, each reinforcing the other to achieve the total effect. John Nelson, and whoever did the audio mic'ing and mixing, get the same effect in this DVD, and the montage of voice and instruments is equally overwhelming. By comparison, in Blomstedt's DVD, all the sounds and parts of Cum Sancto Spiritu are there, but they become blurred with each other and the trumpets are drowned by the singing. Just one example to illustrate, but this Notre Dame DVD excels throughout in balancing the chorus with the instruments, so that the whole effect is greater than the sum of parts.

The reason for watching a DVD is that we want to 'be there'. That is what is lacking in any audio CD--you aren't there. It's a disembodied sound coming out of a speaker. So I judge the DVD first of all, on whether it creates a sense of being there live. This video succeeds better than the others. It puts us at the focus of the playing and singing. It feels like being right there. There is care taken to 'walk us into' the Notre Dame Cathedral, so there is a sense of place. Which I liked, because I've never been there. And there are some interior shots of the Cathedral during the performance, but mostly the camera is constantly immersing us in the playing and singing. It felt natural to me, as though the camera was looking at what my eyes would be seeing if I were in attendance. As I rewatch it now, the players and singers seem so familiar to me, like I know them. It is as though the camera is shooting from inside the playing and singing area, as opposed to shooting from outside on the periphery.

It isn't perfect. Nelson takes the Sanctus too fast, though even there the chorus is wonderful.

This DVD delivers an immediacy you won't get by audio CD, along with a pinpoint attack and incandescence approaching that achieved by Gardiner on his still-the-gold-standard CD. All for [...] plus [...] shipping

I should mention, the Blomstedt DVD has its own very strong points. First, Blomstedt himself is a highly sympathetic person, and gives a very perceptive talk about Bach and the Mass. I also appreciated the subtitling (in English) as the performance proceeded. The singers and players seemed equal to those at Notre Dame, and the soloists are comparable. Indeed, Ruth Ziesak (soprano) and Dietrich Henschel (bass) are common to the two DVDs. As with Gardiner's CD, this Notre Dame DVD uses a male countertenor rather than a female alto in certain passages. Blomstedt uses the female alto. I prefer the female alto, but it is a minor point in the larger picture.

But none of the DVD's match this Notre Dame one for elan; none are as brilliant and moving. This is the one that touches me. Top recommendation of the DVDs.


F. Horne

It would be difficult to praise this DVD highly enough. Although I tend to watch music DVDs that I like repeatedly, since I've first gotten ahold of this disc, I've literally popped it into the DVD player dozens of times--a record for me. It is superb both musically and visually. Please forgive the enthusiasm with which this review is written, although enthusiasm is often overdone and transitory, mine has been tempered by time and is sincere.

Musically, I must agree with the other reviewers in saying that the choir is angelic. I am not sure I have ever heard singing to match it. The instrumentalists are strong, worthy partners to the choir, and here outshining the others is Ms. Nemtanu whose solo leading into "Laudamus Te" has become my favorite piece of violin music. (And the violin is my favorite instrument!) As for the vocal soloists, there hardly seems to be a weak link among them. I suppose Mr. Taylor, the alto, could be picked on for seeming less stellar than the rest, but that would be seeking to find fault rather than expressing any real disappointment in his performance. Yes, the conductor takes the "Sanctus" too fast, but his achievements throughout the Mass make this easy to forgive.

Visually, this performance was shot with relatively sharp resolution for a DVD. Having recently made the switch from a large analog to a larger HD TV, I was worried how the DVD's picture quality would hold up. Fortunately, it made the transition well, and its resolution is not wasted. Mr. Simonnet has added something marvelous to this performance with his camerawork. Rather than merely record the performance, which he nevertheless does an admirable job of, he has striven to make this DVD a visual, as well as musical, piece of art. While he usually focuses on the performers, he does on occasion stray, and when he does his shots of the cathedral often complement the music in profound, almost subliminal, ways. Now, that is not to say that he does not make mistakes from time to time. An awkward shot of Ms. DiDonato and a wobbly, rotating shot of the instrumentalists come to mind; nevertheless, his shots of the cathedral and its iconography are usually clearly motivated by the music and add, rather than subtract, to the experience as a whole.

Taken together, the musical and visual excellence of this disc make it everything a musical performance on DVD should be. With all due respect to the previous reviewer who gave this DVD one star and referred to it as a "disaster", I cannot conceive how such a low opinion of this performance is possible, let alone just.

Following good practice, other reviewers have mentioned alternative DVDs which they believe are good, and we can be thankful they share their knowledge. I, for my part, have not watched another B-Minor Mass DVD, and am so completely contented with this one that I feel no need to look.

Unreserved Recommendation

If you are familiar with the Beethoven piano concertos recorded on DVD by François-René Duchable, John Nelson and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris (sadly released only in France so far), you will know the world-class level of playing and interpretation to be expected from this orchestra and their music director. If anything, the B minor mass might be even superior in execution, as it is incredibly demanding on the instrumental and vocal musicians with its variety of forms, tempi, textures, layers and broad spectrum of mood shifts, not to mention the interplay between orchestral groups, individual instruments, soloists and chorus. I have long searched for what I consider my "ideal" B minor mass and was resigned that I would never find it: a quest for the Holy Grail. Nelson and his musicians come very, very close to my Grail. This is the most sublime, involving and heartfelt B minor I have heard in decades. Marriner's sensitive and immensely powerful 1977 recording with the ASMF, a reading that opened many doors and ears just before the period instruments/performances movement really got underway, is still high on my list, though the sound is a bit dated. Gardiner, Fasolis, Helmut Müller-Brühl and Robert King are quite remarkable, each in his own way. But Nelson offers much additional inspiration, not to forget the excellent video that puts you right in the middle of the performance in one of the world's most beautiful cathedrals. Film and sound are as near perfect as I have seen and heard on recent music DVDs. There are generous bonus features: an interview with John Nelson, an articulate and consummate musician, an interview with the Archbishop of Paris, an introduction to the mass by Monseigneur Jehan Revert as well as a documentary on music and liturgy at Notre-Dame de Paris. As to the performance, it combines spirituality, virtuosity and musicality as no other, at least for me. Nelson has the advantage of a uniformly wonderful team of vocal soloists with no weak links and a superb chorus. His instrumental soloists are equally stellar: listen to the angelic solo of concert mistress Deborah Nemtanu, the inspired principal cellist, flautist, oboist, and Nathalie Geujon-Gantiez the timpanist who uses wooden sticks throughout. Tempi are brisk, though only on a couple of occasions bordering on overly brisk: they are in keeping with the inner balance of the whole work. I agree with F. Horne that the Sanctus may be just a tad too fast. Both Marriner and Blomstedt take it considerably slower and with impressive gravitas, but neither is more exhilarating. In Nelson's interpretation, however, the phenomenal choral singing and the individual instruments or instrumental groups are consistently balanced and transparent, there is never a moment when any voice blurs or is drowned by others. Given the acoustics of the huge cathedral, this is a minor miracle in itself. I'll stop my eulogy here, but would like to urge you to listen and see for yourselves: this is perhaps the greatest B minor mass to come in a long time. A final note: As F. Horne points out, Herbert Blomstedt's 2005 DVD recording of the B minor mass is equally deserving of our admiration. I'll not repeat what J. Scott Morrison and the other reviewers have to say about Blomstedt, the Gewandhaus musicians and the soloists (Blomstedt shares Dietrich Henschel and Ruth Ziesak with Nelson), as I concur, with due respect for their taste and expertise. Despite some fleeting sound congestion, this is a truly great mass, too, and a documentation of outstanding musicianship, first and foremost of the distinguished maestro Blomstedt. We are fortunate to have both. My own first choice by a small---and entirely subjective---margin is Nelson.

A great performance, specially te alto and chorus. Perhaps the best DVD of the B mass available. Also superb technical quality of the recording.

an uplifting work, setting,sound and video all combine to make this a totally delicious musical ofering

This is the first disaster I have experienced since starting my DVD collection 9 months ago. I love the music and have several CD versions, but the notion of a live performance in Notre Dame was irresistable, especially after reading the enthusiastic recommendation in the Penguin Guide. One thing I will saY, although I did not need to pay for this product to find this out: the cathedral is wonderful. The panning however focuses too repeatedly on the same iconic items. It must be the most unfriendly accoustic arena on this planet, for the quality of the sound was truly unbearable, and the recording seemed to be pervaded by a scratchy hum reminiscent of an aged vinyl. The artists were squeezed into an arrangement that made for a very ugly visual display. Only the conductor alone showed up as a performer actually worth watching.

What a pity, for the interviews that I watched first revealed an interesting and exciting build up to the great occasion of the Mass itself, and are by far the best items on this disc. Had I watched them after the performance, they would have sounded like a bad joke.