Haydn: Heiligmesse; Paukenmesse [Import]

Franz Joseph Haydn (Composer), John Eliot Gardiner (Conductor), English Baroque Soloists (Performer), Angharad Gruffydd Jones (Performer), Joanne Lunn (Performer), Topi Lehtipuu (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: English Baroque Soloists, Angharad Gruffydd Jones, Joanne Lunn, Topi Lehtipuu
• Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner
• Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn
• Audio CD (April 2, 2003)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Philips Import
• ASIN: B00008HCF0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,026 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars warmly recommended, July 10, 2006

By 

D. Jack Elliot (Omaha, Nebraska) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Haydn: Heiligmesse; Paukenmesse (Audio CD)

First, the bad news. Heiligmesse is the weak link of this album. While certainly written to a high standard of craftsmanship, it's just one big chorus after another (save two or three movements that feature what is essentially an SSATBB chamber choir: not all that much of a contrast, in other words). Haydn wrote the Heiligmesse after his first residency at London, where he was introduced to the Handel oratorios. Haydn learned a good deal from studying Handel's masterful choral writing, and again, the Heiligmesse's choruses are excellent; but JUST choruses becomes rather monotonous. The texture, orchestration, and mood remain constant and unvaried throughout.

The good news, then, is that despite not measuring up to the other works here the Heiligmesse is still worth being acquainted with, and the Paukenmesse and the motet, "Insanae et Vanae Curae," are masterworks. Paukenmesse deserves comparison to the Mozart C minor Mass of 1781; it's that good. It contains majestic choruses as in the Heiligmesse, along with dynamic orchestral writing and intimate, moving arias. And the motet, "Insanae et Vanae Curae," a lesser-known rarity, has a tragic dramatic impact the equivalent of Mozart's D-minor piano concerto or even, perhaps, passages of Don Giovanni.

As for the performances, they are above criticism. Gardiner seems never to miss! He will be remembered as perhaps THE great conductor of his generation.