Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis / Reger: Mozart Variations

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

 

 

When this was released--or re-released I should say--there was a bit of sniffing and snorting about the questionable necessity of the getting this back out to the public again. It's mono and Bohm later recorded the same work in stereo.

For a superficial response, I'd say, well, probably any Missa Solemnis in the DG archives is probably worth a listen and certainly any conducted by Bohm. Focusing more finely, this is beautifully played by the Berlin Philharmonic and the chorus and soloists are genuinely first-rate; the choral work, in fact, is spectacular--it's the same St. Hedwig's choir that sang in the incredible German Requiem conducted by Fritz Lehmann, a must-have item in this series. It's almost worth buying alone to hear these guys sing. The mono sound on this release is quite good too.

Bohm brings a levelheadedness to this sometimes intractable work that's appreciated. Overall if you don't mind mono sound, you'll find this to be a vintage Missa Solemnis with the same cachet of conviction and authority that many DG recordings from these years seem to carry. So mix it all together and you have a really superb and solid performance of the more traditional interpretive school. In some ways it might even be my favorite recording of this work, it's the one I keep coming back to most often along with Klemperer's.

Now for the icing on the cake--as a filler (33 minutes worth of filler!) DG has added in Bohm's recording of Max Reger's "Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Mozart" and honestly you won't ever find a better performance of this wonderful work.

It might seem surprizing that Karl Bohm, a conductor hardly noted for his extrovert interpretations, should be heard leading a white hot and spiritual perfomance of Beethoven's massive choral work. Recorded in 1955, the same year as the estimable Fritz Lehmann Brahms Requiem, I rate this as my favorite version of the Missa Solemnis. The choral contribution in this the most demanding of vocal compositions, is first rate as is the singing of the vocal quartet.

The DG mono sound quality is exceptionally clean, detailed and well balanced. There is certainly none of the distortion encountered in the esteemed Klemperer version. This is a great performance and belongs on the shelves any self respecting Beethoven collection. While you would hardly purchase this set for Reger's Mozart Variations, this piece is a well performed and attractive coupling.

I agree with the reviewer below: if you can tolerate mono sound, Bohm's first recording of the Missa Solemnis has a lot going for it. The sonics are well balanced and warm. We get the soloists miked very closely (louder than the chorus), and they are quite fine, except for the creaky-sounding, sometimes sour alto, Marianne Redev. The choral work by St. Hedwig's choir is first-rate, one of the main reasons to listen to this performance.

And Bohm's conducting, which is quite traditional, isn't churchy; we get a great sense of drama as well as reverence. All in all, while this reading doesn't conquer Toscanini's blazing account for RCA or any of Karajan's readings from the forties until nearly his death, Bohm's set is well worth hearing.

The Missa Solemnis must rank as one of the very best choral works ever composed, in my opinion as good as Beethoven's ninth symphony. This music is terribly involved and emotional, with the kind of robust musical structure which makes it satisfying on a myriad levels, and keeps you coming back for more. Karl Bohm's recording is an excellent one, with orchestra just as prominent as the singers, and the chorus is amazing. From the first track, I was hooked. Occassionally the soloists and orchestra seem to have a hard time balancing themselves out (and no wonder, with music this complex), making the solo voices sound a little forced. But the flaws in the performance don't outweigh its many excellent qualities, and this music belongs in the home of every human on earth.