Customer Reviews

Bruckner: Die 3 Messen/Masses Nos. 1-3/Les Messes

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

 

 

Being long under the impression that Bruckner's major achievement lay in his symphonies, the motets and the Te Deum, this CD-set came as quite a revelation to me.

Being a very devout Catholic, Bruckner left us with sublimely beautiful music in these Masses. Although al three masses were composed in his forties, the music strongly bears his signature: elements of mystery, striking thematic material, and deep spiritual devotion.

Jochum has a powerful vision, the singing of the choir is ethereal, and the recording after all these years retains a vivid presence.

The music has a strong emotional effect on me; listening to it is a spiritual experience.

Someone once said that God gave us music so that we could pray without words. This is the music I would expect to hear upon arrival in Heaven.

I tend to echo the sentiments of the prior reviewer. The Masses are some of Bruckner's greatest compositions and deserve the same level of respect as do his symphonies. When I was listening to the Mass No. 3 in E minor I could have sworn there was a rolling orchestral crescendo that was also used at least in part in the great adagio of his Symphony No. 7 (also in E). The texts of the Roman Catholic liturgy are delivered entirely in Latin and the choral and soloist contributions are impeccable in phrasing, diction and beauty of tone. The Benedictus passages have some extremely beautiful parts for the voice and the string sections, and nothwithstanding the lack of a violin solo can be mentioned in the same breath as that of the Beethoven Missa Solemnis. The Et Resurrexit sections of the Credos have thundering power and majesty. In some respects the Masses are a bit more closely argued in terms of musical structure and cohere better than the earlier symphonies. Eugen Jochum conducts with selfless dedication, letting this powerful music speak for itself. The playing of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is superb, and the highly individual sound of the Mass No. 2, written solely for brass and wind instruments, almost (as the documentation implies) feels like Palestrina brought into the Romantic era. The remastering from the original issues, from 1962 to 1971, is very successful and there is a wonderful bloom on the choral sound. The spacious acoustics of the Herkules-Saal, which was also one of the venues for Jochum's first survey of Bruckner's symphonies with the same orchestra (and the Berlin Philharmonic), are heard to very good effect. Full translations of the Liturgy are printed in German, English and French.

This issue is a classic and its release as part of Deutsche Grammophon's Originals series cannot be too strongly welcomed.

For someone like me, unfamiliar with Bruckner, this recording is an excellent introduction. These masses are a large amount of lovely, heartfelt music in a late Romantic idiom. The performances are excellent. The E minor Mass appears to be the most popular but I found the F minor Mass to be the most interesting of the three. Definitely whets your appetite for more Bruckner.

This is the finest complete set of the Masses. However DG's remastering is atrocious compared to the original release of this set (a beautiful 4cd box set).

The balance is off, the warmth, depth and breadth are lost and there is plenty of digititis (a noticible digital signal/distortion throughout the listening experience).

Never have I felt that the same recordings could sound SO different!! As if they were conducted by two different conductors, played by two different orchestras and choruses, and recorded by two different companies! I own both sets, and have listened to them for years on different systems, and the results I just mentioned are always the same.

I normally like getting discs remastered but I've only felt this disappointed once before on a remastering job (Karajan's remastered '63 Beethoven set).

Not only that but on this set there is a break between the first and second disc in Mass No.2, which is a bit annoying. DG wanted to squeeze everything on two discs....whereas the other set has each Mass on it's own disc coupled with a few motets, and the Te Deum with the Psalm 150.

The investment of Jochum's grand, noble and beautiful choral Bruckner in the original Box set is without question the one to own. And worth the asking price. The difference is staggering in all areas!

Bruckner's Masses are not as well known as his symphonies, but not for lack of worth. I would argue that Mass #1 in d-minor is the greatest choral/religious work I'm aware of, which is not meant to diminish Beethoven's Missa Solemnis or Brahm's German Requiem or a number of other very impressive works. Many writers have commented that Mass #3 is Bruckner's "masterpiece" of the genre, but not to take anything away from the 3rd mass, respectfully, I think that designation belongs with Mass #1. Mass #1 is a towering and deeply moving work, and while one of Bruckner's very earliest compositions, foreshadows so much of what was to come in Bruckner's great symphonies. The Mass is a cohesive musical whole, not just a collection of sections held together by text, yet it would be unjust to not indicate that the Credo and Gloria are especially overwhelmingly powerful and beautiful. And to cap it off, Bruckner pulls it all together so convincingly and magnificently in the closing Agnus Dei. I can't say I have had anywhere near as strong a reaction to Masses #2 and #3, but they are certainly worth hearing.

With regards to the performances, hats off to Eugen Jochum. He is at his absolute finest in these performances, and I have not heard any better. These performances exhibit a level of involvement, passion, and total commitment from Jochum and his orchestra, chorus, and soloists, that is thrilling and far from routine. The performances sound almost as if their lives depend on getting it right--and they do in spades. This can only be considered a towering achievement for everyone involved.

UPDATE Sept. 2011: I got my hands on the original box set and listened to it. Those who have stated that DG completely messed up the re-mastering of this set have got it 100% right, and it's SHOCKING what a botched job they did. Having only heard the re-mastered version, I assumed that the sections of sonic distortion and congestion were from the original tapes and reflected the consequence of recordings made in the 1960s and early 1970s. WRONG. Listening to the original CDs, none of that is there--it was all added during the re-mastering. Plain and simple, the engineers who did this should be shot. I agree with others who have posted that the original CDs sound much better than these re-mastered disks. So while the performances on a scale of 1-5 would rate at least an 8(!), the sonics have been really screwed up by DG. My recommendation: Find a copy of the original boxed set, and enjoy it. Going forward, I'm only going to listen to the original CDs from the box set.

Compared to the symphonies, Bruckner's masses have much of the same smoldering power and sense of grandeur, but in a far more serene - angelic - framework. They do perhaps lack the grand sense of purpose of the symphonies, but pretty much manage to make up for that with different means, proving without a trace of doubt that Bruckner was a master without peers when it came to writing for choral forces. And these performances are indeed heavenly, absolutely not to be missed. In many ways the second is perhaps the greatest among them, but its winds-only accompaniment - despite the fact that Bruckner's imaginative (maybe `infallible' is a better word) and effective use of the forces is marvelous - might be a little too austere for some, at least when compared to the lush opulence of the first and third ones.

The recordings were made between 1963 and 1972 and while I may not bee Jochum's biggest fan when it comes to the symphonies, I couldn't imagine a better advocate in these works. And he has quite simply stunning soloists and choral and orchestral forces at his disposal, creating the most exquisite of textures and most marvelous, flaiming colors and intensity (Kim Borg should be mentioned in particular among the soloists). The sound quality is pretty good as well, with none of the details lost, but it is unfortunately just a little tame and chilly. A splendid set, nonetheless.

Bruckner: Die 3 Messen/Masses Nos. 1-3/Les Messes is a recording under the direction of Eugen Jochum who leads the Symphoniorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks on this Deutsche Grammophon recording from 1963. First of all being that the recording is close to 50 years old the sound quality is still nothing short of amazing. The lyrics are available in German, Latin, English and French. Being a devout person at heart I relished every note of this amazing tribute and love for God. Highly recommended. 5/5.

I think that Jochum's interpretation is excellent in this recording but I take issue with the performance of the chorus in the E minor Mass. The sopranos often reach for the high notes and come out under the pitch...regularly. Anything above a C# is a bit of an adventure for them. The chorus, as a whole loses pitch in unaccompanied sections. It is difficult to listen to this disc. I wish I had purchased the recording on the Hyperion label.

Una versión poco refinada de las misas de Bruckner. El coro no se entiende bien, es un poco sucio y con un vibrato que ensucia más la grabación. Además, toma tempos muuuuuy lentos en algunos pasajes, lo que termina por aburrir.