9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extravagant? Just right!, March 22, 2005
This review is from: Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (Audio CD)
I haven't listened to this recording as closely as some of the other reviewers that have pointed out imperfections in the performance. My perspective is that the performance just plain blows me away, where the Gardiner performance just doesn't seem to muster enough power. (And this is from someone who believes that some of Gardiner's Baroque performances border on the miraculous.)
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I don't like it much either, September 14, 2003
This review is from: Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (Audio CD)
I agree with the other reviewer below. I too really wanted to like this recording. I already owned Gardiner's incandescent performance but wanted one on 'modern' instruments. This recording seemed like a good choice. The recorded sound is too boxy for my liking, and you know that something is not quite right with the singing when the Missa Solemnis sounds more operatic than Verdi's Requiem, as is the case here. Sorry, but Studer DOES screech her way through the exquisite Benedictus and Domingo's voice DOES sound strained and uncomfortable throughout. Levine's conducting is so-so. The choral singing is probably the best thing about this recording. The volcanic opening to the Gloria is superbly handled by Levine and the choir as are the other explosive passages. Levine doesn't hang about at the end of the Credo either, with thrilling effect. Again though, I concur with the reviewer below who pointed out certain mistakes in the orchestra. I found the beautiful violin solo in the Benedictus earthbound, and the violinist, Gerhart Hetzel (RIP), produces a strange quavering tone that I personally thought distracting. And then there's that massive blunder already mentioned...the inability of the orchestra to even begin in unison in the exposed opening of the Agnus Dei. However did this get through the editing?? Surely there were tapes made during the rehearsal?? At a one-off hearing it would not matter but, on repeated hearings, it really gets on my nerves and ruins the moment. I can't fail but anticipate it and notice it. Dreadful really, considering the quality of the orchestra in question. So...I still have Gardiner's recording and continue my search for a decent 'modern' version.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
By rights this should be a triumph, but it isn't quite, February 24, 2007
This review is from: Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (Audio CD)
Since he took over the BSO a few years ago, I have come to admire James Levine enormously, but what kept me from that judgment in the past were recordings like this Missa Solemnis. It all but promises to be stupendous with a money-back guarantee. We have a vocal quartet made up of stars from the Met. The orchestra is no less than the ultimate in Beethoven, the Vienna Phil. The acoutsics are grand, the recording fine (showing some digital edginess in climaxes, however).
But the Missa Solemnis is at once an epic and a private prayer. It's also freighted with its reputation for cosmic nobility. Any performance that can't find a spiritual center will fall prey to big noises and virtuoso emptiness. That's what happens here. I didn't believe for an instant that this is a religious work, or that anyone involved was deeply moved. Levine has a wide range of expression at his command, but when he's at a loss, he pushes for surface dramatics (at bust-a-gut loudness) and then, at the opposite extreme, lugubrious slowness to emphasize the gravity of the situation. All the soloists are caught up in reaching the seats at the back of the house, losing any sense of private devotion.
All these judgments are subjective, of course, and I can understand any listener who responds to the vocal gleam and powerhouse orchestra. I didn't, try as I might. (In all candor I will point out that DG admired Levine's version enough to include it in their sacrosanct Complete Beethoven edition.)
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