Haydn: Heiligmesse & Nikolaimesse

Stephen Varcoe (Performer), Franz Joseph Haydn (Composer), Richard Hickox (Conductor), Collegium Musicum 90 (Performer), Pamela Helen Stephen (Performer), Lorna Anderson (Performer), Mark Padmore (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Stephen Varcoe, Collegium Musicum 90, Pamela Helen Stephen, Lorna Anderson, Mark Padmore
• Conductor: Richard Hickox
• Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn
• Audio CD (November 30, 1999)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chandos
• ASIN: B00002EPMU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #333,309 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With the possible exception of the wonderfully tempestuous Nelson Mass, Haydn's masses have never achieved the popularity of his London symphonies or the large-scale oratorios, The Seasons and The Creation, although most of them date from the same period--the late 1790s and early 1800s--that witnessed an extraordinary late flowering of the composer's fecund genius. Their comparative unfamiliarity seems doubly unaccountable when the listener is presented with such ravishing, technically accomplished and exhilarating performances as those of Richard Hickox, his superb team of soloists, and the period-instrument ensemble Collegium Musicum 90. This disc, the sixth and last in Hickox's survey of the later masses for Chandos, presents two "nameday" masses: the Heiligmesse from 1796, written for the nameday of Princess Marie Hermenegild, and the much earlier Nikolaimesse of 1772, composed in honor of his employer, Nicolaus, Prince Esterházy. The choir gets the lion's share of the work in the Heiligmesse, but the stalwart team of soloists--Lorna Anderson, Pamela Helen Stephen, Mark Padmore, and Stephen Varcoe--have opportunity enough to demonstrate once again their sympathy with Haydn's vocal textures, as they have done throughout the series. Critical plaudits have been showered on previous volumes, and there's no reason not to follow suit here. With advocacy like this, it surely won't be long before these radiant, tuneful, and uplifting works will become as well known and as much-loved as they should always have been. --Mark Walker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Heilig,but great Nikolai, July 22, 2000

By 

"quia-nihil-sum" (Inverness,Scotland.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haydn: Heiligmesse & Nikolaimesse (Audio CD)

Here is another quality entry in Richard Hickox's survey of Haydn's gorgeous canon of masses.I must confess I bought it primarily for the "Heiligmesse",which has always been one of my favourites of the astonishing "late" (thank God Haydn didn't suffer an early death like Mozart.If he had,civilisation would have been deprived of some of the most glorious music ever conceived by man) masses.

I was introduced to this masterpiece in the early 1990's,when the superlative performances of the mighty six late masses were reissued by Decca,and been relatively new to classical music,I was completely blown away by the absolutely seamless symbiosis of the liturgy and the symphony.By the way,if anyone reading this review of mine,is at the same embryonic stage in their musical evolution,as I was back then,don't be fooled by most of the critical overviews and beginner's guides to the genre,into thinking that the "Nelson" mass is the only one of Haydn's output worth collecting.It is of course excellent (especially under Trevor Pinnock and the worthy rival by our friends under discussion here),but of Haydn's 14 settings of the ordinary,nearly all are "must have" music,and some will have you kicking yourself that so much of your life has been wasted without having them in your possession.Oh,and while I'm on my hobby-horse-so to speak-as soon as you've ordered all the afore-mentioned,as I'm sure you will,thanks to my sage advice(!),do yourself an enormous favour,and at the same time pick up Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" (preferably under John Eliot Gardiner),and also his "Mass in C" (Guest).Believe me,you'll want to thank me for it later.

Anyway,back to the matter at hand.On this CD the Heiligmesse receives a lovely,warm and deeply felt reading,with some wonderfully poised and integrated work by the outstanding soloists.Yet when it comes to that aural jewel,the "Benedictus",I don't feel that the forces here recapture the sheer spine-tingling ecstasy that George Guest managed to draw from his nonpareil Choir of St.John's College,Cambridge,and the excellent musicians under his wing.There is a frisson in that performance that seems to defy space and time,and for me at any rate it ranks as one of the most sublime moments in all music.And that interpretation as a cohesive entity,has a freshness and simply joyful impetus about it,that I find it hard to imagine it ever been bettered.

When it comes to the "Nikolaimesse",I had in mind the earlier performances under Preston and Pinnock,respectively.Both are excellent in their own way,and are well worth your time in tracking them down.But the performance on this disc must stand head and shoulders above anything that has come before it.From the bitter-sweet,plangent,burnished tones of the delightful little "Kyrie",to it's mirror-image in the concluding "Dona nobis pacem",it is a heart-rending sojourn through the ordinary of the mass.And quite honestly,if I ever hear anything in life again as stunningly beautiful as the interweaving of the solo voices in the "Et incarnatus" and "Crucifixus" sections of the Credo,I will count myself extremely fortunate indeed.That final annunciation of "pro nobis" by the baritone Stephen Varcoe is quite simply hair-raising !

So,all-in-all,if you have found yourself vacillating over buying this CD,because I haven't given it the full compliment of 5 stars in my rating;well don't hesitate a second longer,buy it immediately for a thoroughly enjoyable main item,but ESPECIALLY for the magic that is wrought upon us in the spell-binding "Missa Sancti Nicolai".It could,I'm sure melt the hardest of hearts,and quite possibly in that particular section of the Credo "bring a tear to a glass eye".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Heiligmesse and great St.Nicholas mass, June 15, 2000

By 

"quia-nihil-sum" (Inverness,Scotland.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haydn: Heiligmesse & Nikolaimesse (Audio CD)

Another very tempting coupling in Richard Hickox's brilliant new survey of Haydn's gorgeous masses.I bought it principally for the "Heiligmesse",which is one of the last six miraculous settings he produced in his "declining" years.All I can say is,thank God Haydn didn't suffer an early death like Mozart,because the world would have been deprived of some of the most exquisite music ever gifted to mankind. Anyway,the Heiligmesse has always been close to my heart,not least because of the Benedictus,which features some of his most serene writing,and builds to a heavenly climax which my powers of description would fail miserably in trying to convey the sheer spine-tingling,soul-wrenching,exultant joy of the piece.Only by hearing it yourself will you understand why words fail me when faced with such overwhelming beauty. The performance of it as given on this CD does fulfil most of my expectations,but I still feel that the reading under George Guest,with his matchless choir of St.John's college,Cambridge has the edge with that elusive frisson,that again I find difficult to define in mere words.It's one of these rare moments when everything just falls into place and magic is worked upon us. The other sections of the mass gave me no cause for complaint,and indeed the way the soloists blend in the brilliant "Et incarnatus" and the heart-breaking journey to the "et sepultus est" is unmatched on record in my humble opinion. So,if I've caused you to waver in deciding whether to buy this disc or not:don't worry-buy it for all the previously mentioned qualities of the main item,but ESPECIALLY for the St.Nicholas mass,which is superbly realised here.From the bitter-sweet plangent strains of the Kyrie to it's musical mirror image in the concluding Dona nobis pacem;it's a fantastic little journey through the liturgy.And just like it's big brother,has an Et incarnatus and crucifixus of sublime perfection. To conclude then:go to George Guest et al for the Heiligmesse first and foremost,and then snap up this recording for a St.Nicholas mass that would "bring a tear to a glass eye" and soften the hardest of hearts.