Customer Reviews

Mass in Time of War / Lord Nelson Mass

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I haven't heard Bernstein's CBS recording of the "Mass in Time of War" (though his Bavarian Radio Symphony recording on Philips was good), and I haven't heard this CD version of the Nelson Mass. But, back in the mid-70's, I bought the LP of Bernstein's Nelson Mass, and it utterly floored me. Over the years, I bought two more copies of the LP, just because I was afraid that my record would get ruined and I wouldn't have access to this amazing performance. For me, this is the finest recording of a Haydn mass that I have ever heard, and I have most of the masses in various performances. Trevor Pinnock offers a good performance on DG, but Bernstein's performance is white-hot, with the New York Philharmonic playing as if they were possessed. A great plus to this recording is its inclusion of a restored version of the original organ part. I can't vouch for its authenticity, but I can say it is brilliant and exciting, and, once you hear it, no other performance will sound complete without it. Bernstein had a special affinity for Haydn: his "Paris" Symphonies set is excellent, and his CBS recording of "The Creation" is simply the best, despite boxy sound. But this Nelson Mass is something far more special: one of the unique moments when a work of genius is re-created with total conviction. For me, it's the best recording Bernstein ever made.

I sang Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass in November with the Boston University Symphonic Chorus. I wanted a good recording and that's exactly what I got. Judith Blegen is an amazing soprano and Bernstein an amazing conductor. Need I say more?

Much gets made about how much Leonard Bernstein, during his long and distinguished conducting career, championed composers like his good friend and fellow American Aaron Copland, as well as Gustav Mahler. What sometimes falls by the wayside, however, is the way he had with the symphonies and choral works of Franz Joseph Haydn as well. In terms of the Haydn symphonies, the only conductor ahead of him, at least in America, was George Szell, whose recordings of Haydn's symphonies with his Cleveland Orchestra in the late 1950s and 1960s helped solidify that orchestra/conductor combine as one of the best in the world. And in terms of Haydn's choral output, especially the last six settings of the Latin Mass that the composer made, Bernstein may have done more than anyone ever did in bringing those works back into the forefront.

Such can be gauged on this recording of the composer's Symphony No. 88, a 1963 recording, which is combined onto 2 CDs with Haydn's Mass In Time Of War (No. 9) and the Lord Nelson Mass (No. 11), both of which were recorded, respectively, in 1973 and 1976. Bernstein and his New York Philharmonic hold their own in the symphony, which served as a transition in Haydn's career between the Paris symphonies (nos. 82-87) just past, and the London symphonies (nos. 93-104) yet to come. But Bernstein really shines in how he conducts the two masses. The Mass In Time Of War, known in German circles as the "Paukenmesse" (because of the prominence of the timpani in the final "Agnus Dei" section), is appropriately dramatic; and the fact that it was recorded live in Washington D.C. on January 20, 1973, as our involvement in the Vietnam War came to an ambiguous military end, gives its recording here a true gravitas. He would later re-record this in 1984 for Philips with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The later 1976 performance of the Lord Nelson Mass, meanwhile, is of an intensity that only Bernstein, it would seem, was ever really able to do (although Sir Neville Marriner's 1985 recording for EMI with the Dresden State Orchestra comes extremely close). Of particular note is the brooding and almost frightening opening "Kyrie", with the New York Philharmonic and the Westminster Choir, along with a cadre of fine vocal soloists, showing why it is among the most popular settings of the Latin Mass by any composer at any time in history.

While Bernstein was frequently accused of hyper-emotional behavior in his conducting, especially when it came to Mahler, he always bought out the most in the works he chose to record; and the two Haydn Masses and the 88th Symphony on this 2-CD recording are examples of that, examples that made Bernstein one of the great classical conductors of the 20th century.

After his blasphemous interpretation of the Mass, in "Mass", Bernstein should have been straightjacketed prior to any other readings of any other Roman Mass, even the glorious Haydn Masses. Unfortunately, he wasn't, and we have here a dragging, uninteresting performance. Find the UK EMI ASD or USA Angel LP of Paukenmesse at Kings College with Phillip Ledger conducting if you want to experience the glory of this piece coupled with excellent soloists and typical EMI recording quality. It's worth the search and was available on CD for a time.