Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.)

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.

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.)

The performance has power, emotion, electricity. So what's wrong with a bit of mistake. Afterall, they're just human beings. I prefer a human reading than a studio manufactured perfect reading devoid of humanity. Beethoven's music is always about humankind. His music was composed to stretch the performers to their limits - whether in the Missa, Fidelio, Choral Symphony - Beethoven's vocal music has always been regarded as inhumanly demanding.

I love this live performance. It hasn't been doctored and made ARTIFICIAL by the studio process. Not that I am a live recording freak. There are studio performances I love that have electricity. But it's always nice to have a recording that is undoctored in any way.

There are a lot of varying scores on this page but I can't for the heart of me believe that this is just some average Missa Solemnis. I feel it is one of the finest of modern times. The great line up has been mentioned. James Levine, one of the most dependable conductors of the last three decades, the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the 2 or 3 best orchestras in the world... then the roster of soloists, Studer, Norman, Domingo, Moll... all recorded in some of DG's best sound from this time. The main objection to this Missa Solemnis is that it feels operatic instead of religious, which I think is an overplayed card. It doesn't have to sound "churchy" or "solemn", the reverence of this performance is clear to the ear. Some of Beethoven's most spiritual music is still going to be just that, even if the big orchestral and choral moments will blow out your speakers in their sheer extravagance.

The soloists are all opera stars, so there begins that "operatic" criticism. Would listeners prefer no name, small voiced talents from some English choir perhaps? I'll take the opera stars. Sure, Domingo's voice is perhaps wrong for a Mass but I can deal with it, he's still one of the greatest tenors of all time. James Levine conducts with true authority in this vast score. The Kyrie section is the most conventional part of the score and Levine succumbs to a heavy, slightly turgid tempo here. Once past that, the performance explodes with exuberance. The Gloria gets really intense with the Vienna Philharmonic hammering it out of the park in their solo spotlight moments. This is one of the most dramatic accounts I've heard. The Credo is also exceptional. The Sanctus and Benedictus sections really give the lie to the statement that this performance is somehow lacking in spirituality. Gardiner's wimpy forces are lacking spirituality, not this glorious account by Levine and the Vienna Phil. Listen to that heavenly violin solo and then the soloists floating in, it's rarely been recorded at such an exalted level.

The Agnus Dei and Dona Nobis Pacem cap this performance. The timpani are once again fully in the picture and sound like thunder from Thor in the audacious instrumental section near the end of work. As I've noted before, the sound quality is a great example of outstanding digital sound, made in a live venue.There is some reverberation involved but nothing that distracts from the fine acoustics. I greatly enjoyed the thrilling nature of James Levine's conception of this piece, which I consider an equal to Bach's Mass in B minor. I actually prefer the Beethoven work to all other masses. And yes, even with all the concert hall dynamics of this performance, it still retains at it's heart a spiritual quality which you won't find in any Missa Solemnis of recent times.

The performance has power, emotion, electricity. So what's wrong with a bit of mistake. Afterall, they're just human beings. I prefer a human reading than a studio manufactured perfect reading devoid of humanity. Beethoven's music is always about humankind. His music was composed to stretch the performers to their limits - whether in the Missa, Fidelio, Choral Symphony - Beethoven's vocal music has always been regarded as inhumanly demanding.

I love this live performance. It hasn't been doctored and made ARTIFICIAL by the studio process. Not that I am a live recording freak. There are studio performances I love that have electricity. But it's always nice to have a recording that is undoctored in any way.

Here we have another case of an exceptional recording that got little to no attention when first released. But that is precisely what happens these days when you have no props or gimmicks....or camp. To wit, when EMI released their (failed) Verdi Requiem with the Alagnas after 9/11, they emblazoned the cover with a 9/11 fundraising stunt. It did not work but mostly because it was a bad product. Period. In any event, this Missa Solemnis takes pride and place among all. The quartet of vocal soloists will remain unsurpassed in modern times, no matter what the critics tell you. This is a sumptuous and gripping

performance. In some critical circles today, the word "strapping" is being freely used to describe both performances and performers. So, let's use it too. This is a sumptuous, gripping and strapping performance all around, including the conductor, James Levine (who can do no wrong -today- courtesy of a well-oiled and rather corrupt publicity machine --- presumably he could do a lot of wrong -before today-; for instance, if this record had come out today the hosannahs in the press would be endless, guaranteed).

This is a Penguin Guide top recommendation and it is easy to see why. The solo singing is absolutely amazing. In the Agnus Dei the singers sing as if their lives depend on it! Levine's conducting and pacing is ideal. I have more than 5 recordings of this masterpiece and this is my definitive recording!

I really wanted to like this recording but actually I think I hate it. The sound is fat and cholestral filled, and Levine's direction is okay (the fugal climax of the Credo goes tremendously well) but... it's only a minor quibble but at the start of the Agnes Dei the orchestra can't even begin in unison which with repeated listenings is annoying. Dare I say that Domingo strains his way through the whole thing and Studer is utterly unsuited to the Benedictus, wailing like a banshee. Stick to Gardiner or for a bigger sound Karajan with the superb Janowitz.

Nowadays I am inclined to pick up Bernstein (among modern instruments) as THE MS. Not Levine's case. Why?

Levine offers to us a traditional point of view. That is, some tempi are sluggish and overall sound is based on choruses and vocal soloists instead of orchestra. In Karajan 1966 is the opposite, but because his choir is so bland and weak ... in gardiner's hands the orchestra shines, nevertheless the choir is also important and the novelty is that it is treated as an additional instrument, it is fused with orchestra, like an additional player, instead of being the "main character" .

Levine uses Wiener Ph, a great, noble orchestra, with a long "classical" tradition. To begin with, the instruments (eg brass) have a special sound that sometimes makes me remember "period". In many places such a lavish picture is buried by choral masses. A pity, for I find Bernstein more transparent.

The choir is not 1 but 3!!! and they seem as if they sang together for a whole generation!! Such is the discipline, the coordination. In other words, this combined choir is pure delight to listen to, no reason to complain.

Soloists. Well, great names. Of course is a matter of tastes but individually they offer great moments. As a group, they are not balanced very well in certain places (I love full throat voices, but I should have liked to see all of them singing in this way in the climaxes of Benedictus. Bernstein, to my ears, has a more compact group.

Conducting. Both (levine and bernstein) are live recordings. Both have that kind of "spontaneity" found on live recordings. Levine is slower than bernstein, but in fact Levine is fast in Gloria, Credo, and last part of agnus dei. very slow in Kyrie, beggining of Agnus dei and benedictus, and a bit relaxed in sanctus. To have heterogeneity in tempi is good, but I think Levine is too prosaic. he is truly lugubrious in Kyrie (Bernstein, thanks, Lenny! is a bit faster) but in gloria is fast along all mov. So "qui tolis" rushes without stopping to savour that quiet and spiritual moment, as Bernstein did. So Levine is superficial, when a mov is slow, he makes very slow and when it is fast, very fast without thinking may be not sections in that mov deserve to be as fast. Bermstein offers a more complex tempi relationships so together with very capable soloists (although not so famous) and a very good choir, with a distinguished orchestra (Concertgebow)in spite of not having that special kind of sound WPh has, he achieves a truly landmark recording.

Levine is great, fellows!!! A very good second option!!! If only Lenny had available this choirs, soloists and orchestra ... the greatness of the conductor make the difference.