Customer Reviews

Mozart: Mass in C Minor, K.427 / Exultate, jubilate, K.165 / Ave Verum Corpus, K.618 ~ Bernstein

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lenny would not have been my first choice for these works. Before hearing this CD, Ferenc Fricsay (also on DG) was my favorite for the C minor mass. And it's still a highly-recommended recording, but if I had to play the old "desert island" game, I'd opt for this performance above all others, for reasons that are more spiritual than technical. Yes, the choir does get away from Lenny a little bit at times (though I think a reviewer below me made far too much of this--live performances don't have that pin-point accuracy of a studio, and this is a live performance), but for fervor, devotion, intensity, this is a burning C minor mass. It's interesting that I was just rereading Hildesheimer the other day and he points out that we cannot tell of Mozart's own devotion in his sacred works--he assumes the persona of the devoted for the task at hand, but the music reveals nothing of the man behind them. Well, maybe so, but this recording definitely reveals the man behind the baton. Was it because, just one year before his own death, Lenny sensed that time was short? He certainly attacked certain works in his last years with a spirituality bordering on Furtwanglerian. Sometimes it didn't work (eg, his Tchaikovsky Pathetique on DG), and sometimes it did. Here, like furtwangler often did, he uses dynamics in some abrupt and shocking ways that, as with Furtwangler, may not be strickly kosher. I don't care. They work.

Here Bernstein summons forth all his energy--and judging by how he looked in late interviews, he did not have that much of it by then, though you'd hardly know it here--to give a grand summation of the work. It's the sort of large-scale epic reading it hadn't yet received on disc. Arleen Auger, surely with Bernstein's help, finds more emotion and shape in her Kyrie solo than anyone I've ever heard. Some have found the pace here heavy or ponderous but I find it intense. Same with the Sanctus movement--this is a decidedly earthbound Sanctus, but it works for me. Listen to Auger in the Laudamus...heavenly, at least to these ears. The interplay between Auger and von Stade in the Domine Deus is delicious. And in the Gratias agimus tibi, the very heavens seem to open. --Listen to the ending. If that doesn't make your hair stand up, you must be bald!

On the other two works--the Exsultate Jubilate and the Ave verum corpus--Bernstein takes fewer chances. The performances still shimmer, but these are more mainstream interpretations. Auger does well on both, though even she can't hide how tough the Exsultate must be to navigate. The program here is very fulfilling. These pieces, though not put together on one CD often, work well. There's something very satisfying about starting with the Ave verum and ending with the great mass.

The whole occasion has the spark and spontaneity of a live performance, and I'm glad DG captured Bernstein live so many times in his last years--I generally find these recordings more satisfying than many of his early Sony studio NYPO discs. Again, every hair may not be in place, but this disc has a convicting missing from many other recordings.

One utterly trivial but interesting note: this is the only Bernstein CD or LP in my entire collection that does not have a picture of Lenny anywhere. Not on the cover, nor inside, nor on the back. Well, there's a white haired dot on the cover that *might* be him, but it's impossible to tell. At any rate, unusual for a man with such an ego, who always insisted on being featured prominently.

Save for a number of scattered recordings over the decades (including an impressive take on the composer's Requiem), Leonard Bernstein wasn't necessarily known as a Mozart conductor, nor as a choral conductor; his pallet tended to include giants like Mahler and Copland, to name just two. But when he did venture into choral music, he did come off on the winning end of the ledger.

Such is the case with this recording he made for Deutsche Grammophon in April 1990 of three vocal/choral works by the great Wolfgang. The first is the much-beloved "Ave Verum Corpus" for organ, string orchestra, and chorus that Mozart wrote while basically on his death bed in December 1791. And although it is the work of a dying young man, it is also the work of a young man whose spirit would live on. Second is the motet "Exsultate Jubilate", a fairly early work of the composer for soprano soloist and small orchestra (ornamented with a harpsichord, indicitive of a holdover from the Baroque era). Arleen Auger is the soprano soloist here, and she is at her usual best.

Auger is then joined by mezzo Frederica von Stade, tenor Frank Lopardo, bass Cornelius Hauptmann, and organist Friedemann Winklhofer for Mozart's admittedly fragmentary but still impressive Great Mass in C Minor (believed to be his 17th and final setting of the Latin Mass). Scored for a fairly significant-sized orchestra, including three trombones, it is a work of immense power that takes a lot out of not only the vocal soloists, but also the orchestra, the chorus, and the conductor.

Fortunately, Bernstein, even here, just seven months before his own death, is up to the task, as are the forces of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (the same forces he had for his incredible '88 Mozart Requiem). Although he admittedly does go for a marathon pace in part of the Gloria section, for the most part Bernstein takes his time to bring out the power of this piece. The all-star vocal soloists are all at their professional best, and the recording (made live in the same cathedral as Bernstein's Mozart Requiem recording) is another first-rate one for the Deutsche Grammophon engineers.

An impressive recording for all concerned, and as one of Bernstein's valedictory recordings, this is an epic recording to be treasured by all.

This is a wonderful recording of one of Mozart's most powerful and moving choral works. The soloists, the Bavarian Radio Symphony, and the chorus are all superb. It reminds me of how Bernstein, even in his old age, was able to execute a vibrant, energetic, and wonderful performance. This recording also comes with two other wonderful works, the Ave Verum Corpus and the Exultate Jubilate. Both of these, like the Mass, are wonderful and exciting performances.

Then you'll love this disc. It has the typical unexpected dramatic and sometimes outright bizarre (as in not written by the composer in the score) touches Bernstein is noted for. The orchestral playing is very good, but I find the choral performance average; the consistency of the singing by the choir is my complaint here. The highly respected soloists do an admirable job. But overall, I find the performance bloated, especially in the Cum Santu Spiritu: After the wonderful and reverant opening the pace is much slower than Mozart's score indicates. It's as if Lenny was trying to milk the reverence factor by 10. This disc is not a bad performance, but in my humble opinion I don't feel that Bernstein shines in choral works like this. Bernstein performs best in works, like Pictures at an Exhibition, where his unique and grandiose views work well, especially in phrasing. His symphonic Mozart is great though. This disc is what I would think Stowkowski's version would sound like if he did the Mozart Mass in C min.

This is a wonderful recording of the c-minor mass... My only complaint is that Bernstein blitzed the qui-tollis from the Gloria. It is surprising to me that he would have done this after having conducted the Lacrimosa from the Requiem with an extremely slow and justified tempo. I don't believe that Bernstein put as much time and attention into this work as he did with the Mozart Requiem, however it is still a wonderful recording; one of the Bernstein's final recordings. The Ave Verum Corpus is stunning! I can't say that I agree with the other reviewers that felt this recording was inferior to other recordings of the c-minor mass. The quality is exceptional.

Well, I've listened to many Berstein works in my time and have a few, but so what? That's nothing special, after all, of course he's one of the most known conductors that ever lived. It means absolutely nothing that I listen to some of his work, well, not unless you consider what that work normally consists of.

You see, my opinion is that some rule one field while others rule quite a different one. I doubt I know many conductors that could stand up to the choral masterpieces of Robert Shaw after all, it's a field that he owned for his entire life. I just dont think you can disagree that he had choral music running through him. However, pure symphonic works is quite a different story alltogether. I can certainly tell you that when it comes to symphonic works where there is no vocal music or the vocal music is not the main star, you're better else looking for another conductor than my state's most beloved Robert Shaw.

This same theory applies to Leonard Bernstein who we can all agree had the symphonic angle of music very well in hand. However, choral music? Let's face it, though he doesnt do a bad job with choral music, he's not neccesarilly the best of the best in the choral music category and far from it. All this being said, I was more than a little skeptical in terms of getting a CD in which Bernstein had to conduct a work of vocal not symphonic importance. Yet, I bought it anyway.

You know what? I think I was on the mark with this one. I've only heard two versions of this and the other one I was a little to inconvenienced to actually know who the conductor or chorus was for that matter. It was something I simply came by on t.v. and said "Well, I think I'll watch the performance of this, it looks allright". At that time, I did not know it was the Mass in C minor until after I saw the credits at the end of the performance. After that, I knew I needed to get a recording of it (they didnt do a bad job by the way).

Bernstein delivers by not trying to treat this as something in which the symphony should shine while the chorus and singers sort of occupy the background. It is treated as it was intended to be treated, a choral work. Arleen Auger was accurate with her performance and so was Frederica von Stade. Frank Lopardo and Cornelius Hauptmann were also good though they obviously dont play a large part in this work.

The famous "Ave verum corpus" is absolutely beautiful without a shadow of a doubt. I enjoy it and wish I had bought this recording when I my high school chorus was performing so that we could hear how it actually sounds with strings and with style and not just piano as we performed it.

"Exsultate, jubilate" holds special meaning as it's famous Alleluia section was performed by me on several occasions when I was a small boy and actually had a voice high enough to do that sort of work. lol. To be honest though, I never heard it anything like this, with all the rises and falls as our beautiful soprano performs it here.

All in all, a great CD which I promise you that you wont be felt shorted out of good cash for. Leonard Bernstein certainly caught me by complete surprise, he was truly up to the task with this recording.

This sweeping account of the C Minor Mass was the first CD I ever owned of the piece. Initially I was not satisfied but it grew on me. Every other version I've auditioned over the years, whether on modern or period instruments has met with my disapproval in one regard or another. Not even Karajan, ( my favorite conductor ), matches Bernstein here. There is a forthright passion throughout and due reverence. It sounds like a spiritual experience, not a jog through the park with your ipod. For that, go to Gardiner.

Arleen Auger's ethereal soprano is the star here among the soloists. I haven't heard a more beautiful rendition of the opening movement's solo yet. All the big moments in the piece come off with striking authority and the organ is well placed, prominent but not intrusive. With Karajan on his Gold CD, the organ is buried behind the orchestra and chorus.

Looks like someone posted the Kyrie Eleison video as part of their review. This live performance is available on DVD from which that clip springs. It's filmed in a cathedral and has a sense of occasion. I prefer the CD myself. Close your eyes and be lifted to the heavens by pure sound...

I can't add much to Mr. Grabowski's praise for this CD. I join Mozart in being no grat lover of church music, but Bernstein's intense, fervent approach is deeply satisfying. He's bucking historical trends, of course, by being so openly devout in an era when period-style readings tend to be drained of reverence. But this reading isn't loggy, and I'd wager it will stand up for a long time. In the fillwer of Exsultate Jubilate, Auger is technically splendid, ad if she shows a bit of effort in the coloratura, it adds to the emotion. The best thing is Bernstein's conducting--it's the best I've ever heard, though again quite traditional. In all, an overlooked gem in LB's vast catalog.

I am very satisfied with this purchase. I have listened to it many times since I bought it and have enjoyed and appreciated it more with every listening. Arleen Auger's 'Kyrie' solo is gorgeous, and anything with the amazing Frederica Von Stade has my stamp of approval.
Strangely enough, I didn't care for Auger's "Exaltate Jubilate". I'm trying to decide if it's just me or not. I've changed my mind before, but I just didn't find it appealing.

BUT - one can always buy another recording of "Exaltate". Go ahead and buy this disc if you want a nice recording of the Mass in c-min, I think you will not be disappointed.

This is a wonderful recording of one of Mozart's most powerful and moving choral works. The soloists, the Bavarian Radio Symphony, and the chorus are all superb. It reminds me of how Bernstein, even in his old age, was able to execute a vibrant, energetic, and wonderful performance. This recording also comes with two other wonderful works, the Ave Verum Corpus and the Exultate Jubilate. Both of these, like the Mass, are wonderful and exciting performances.