Customer Reviews

Mozart: Great Mass in C minor

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

 

 

Like most of the digital recordings Karajan made, this one is also excessively polished and emotionally detached. However, it is an overall great performance(more perfection than the somewhat overrated live Bernstein recording around the same time), and soprano Barbara Hendricks gives a really beautiful performance. She is perfect...The other soloists are good too. The dynamics are large, some of the quiet moments are hard to hear, and the organ, if present, is not heard. In general, Karajan's recordings made during the 60's are usually among the very best ever, and most of his 70's recordings are really wonderful too. So instead of buying his DDD recordings, consider the ADD ones, when he was widely acclaimed as the best conductor in the world, and his conducting had none of the mannerisms and blandness of his later career during the 1980's. Besides, the Berlin Philharmonic was a much better orchestra during the 1960's and 70's, and those recordings usually have even more outstanding soloists, like Gundula Janowitz in the earlier Mass in C recording.

Good luck tracking down the 'ADD' alternative (sic) - this is Herbie's only recording of K 427 (the reviewer above must have been thinking of the 1976 Coronation Mass with Tomowa-Sintow, not Janowitz). And let's talk about the performance itself rather than pontificating on about Karajan's career which should be left to the likes of Osborne Herbert von Karajan: A Life in Music

Firstly, the 'Gold' Remastering has cleaned up this recording no end. There are big forces amassed here and they are juggled superbly by the engineers. And yes, one can hear the organ in certain instances (for what it is worth).

The performance is defiantly old fashioned - it's actually not all that different from Karajan's Bach Magnificat on Sony Herbert Von Karajan - His Legacy for Home Video: J.S. Bach - Violin Concerto in E Major. Underwritten by the grandeur of the Berlin Philharmonic, it invites you to revel in lushness. God is conceived as the celestial Sun King. If you cannot foresee this approach, it's time to fix those loose wires hanging out the back of your head.

The soloists sing memorably. While my allegiance to Cotrubas in the Leppard recording remains strong, I soften towards Hendricks every time I listen to this performance anew. Her Laudamus Te is a delight. In way of conception, not style, the opening of the Gloria is not dissimilar to the opening movement of the Nielsen Fourth: both bring to mind the act of Creation and the exuberance thereof (Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 / Sibelius: Tapiola ~ Karajan. The Qui Tollis, Iesu Christe and the fugue that follows are resplendent.

One could argue that Karajan's approach is too suave or too grand or too whatever but this is a unique conception whose integrity is indubitable. Mozart would marvel at the unanimity of approach. And it makes one so damned annoyed that K 427 is a torso: a Crucifixus would have been a wonder of the world and a rival to Bach's setting in the B Minor Mass.

It is not for everyone but it could be for you. Note: if you want a less 'soupy' approach, the Hogwood Gruel Kitchen is open for business (Mozart - Great Mass in C Minor / Augér, Dawson, Ainsley, Thomas, AAM, Hogwood).

This is a first rate production of one of the most beautiful choral works ever written. Most folks don't ever discover this music until after they have been exposed to the more well known Requiem Mass. There are those of us, though, who think that this is Mozart's great choral masterpeice. You may not agree, but if you love choral works you sure will be glad you discovered this enchanting bit of Mozart's output. I haven't heard Gardiner's version, but I'd bet it is supberb also.

This is the only time Karajan did the Mozart C minor Mass. Usually on such one-off occasions where Karajan recorded a piece just a single time, he knocked it out of the park. Good examples being Mahler's 5th, R.Strauss's Sinfonia Domestica and Alpine Symphony and Nielsen's Inextinguishable. This Mozart Mass however is not on the same exalted level even though the Penguin Guide recommended it as perhaps the best "traditional" version. I personally feel that Leonard Bernstein's version with the Bavarian orchestra, which is also on DG, is the better choice for a big, traditional account of this piece.

Why does this recording not fully deliver? Let's start with balances. With a huge orchestra and chorus, it is difficult for a conductor to keep everything in the sound picture. The orchestra has a tough time keeping itself in check, blaring over a sea of singers. Throughout the piece, the organ part is barely distinguishable behind a blanket sound of strings and chorus. The soloists don't stand out. Arleen Auger for Bernstein is exemplary, like a angel from heaven. Karajan has Barbara Hendricks, who is fine but not in the same league.

Then we have Karajan's tempos, all slow and heavy by today's standards. Not that I mind that but compare it with Bernstein who also has a big conception of the work and still moves much faster, with more drama instead of the high-gloss Karajan treatment. Track 6 is a great case in point, with Bernstein getting through it in 5 and 1/2 minutes while Karajan drags on for 7 and 1/2, a huge discrepancy for just one section of the Credo. The Karajan take sounds grandiose the first time one hears it but it grates on your nerves in later hearings, feels like everyone is moving underwater in diving suits. And yes, the organ on Bernstein's CD is clear and fully part of the aural picture.

Not that any of these old school versions will matter much to the period instrument crowd. I am writing this to recommend a more 19th century conception of this music. The Berlin Philharmonic supports the chorus with it's plush underpinnings and DG's remastered sound for this Gold CD is leagues better than the original issue. But there is still a lot of congestion at climaxes. On a more positive note... the cover design for this CD as with many other Karajan Gold discs is fantastic. An artistic and imposing photo and with that Gold foil on top of it. I love it!