Customer Reviews

Mozart - Mass in C Minor, KV427 (New version by Robert D. Levin)

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It is something of an oddity that two of Mozart's most enduring sacred works are incomplete: the Mass in C Minor, and the even more famous Requiem. Dr. Robert Levin is one in a long line of musicologists who has completed the Requiem in an edition which is my personal favorite, so naturally, I jumped at the chance to give his new completion of the Mass in C Minor a listen. I was cautious- only the beginning of the Credo had been finished by Mozart, and the Sanctus is riddled with lacunae. The Agnus Dei is completely lacking. From what material would Levin draw to make an educated and sound completion?

The one important thing to remember, is that Levin used as much of Mozart's own material as possible, so much that relatively little of the present work is original Levin. Levin drew from the arias of another work... the cantata "Davide Penitente," in which Mozart reused the music from the Mass' Gloria; Levin used sketches, themes, subjects, etc. from the period in which Mozart composed the Mass. To provide unity, Levin reuses fugue themes Mozart composed for the Mass (e.g. the second subject of the "Kyrie" is reused in the fugue "Et Vitam venturi" at the end of the Credo). Sounds academic, sure, but the reality of the performance is astounding, sounding appropriately Mozartian. The sound is nearly seamless, in keeping with Mozart's unique contrapuntal style. All of the modulations, episodes, etc. are in place. Mozart would have been proud. If I had been less well-versed in musicology or unfamiliar with the Mass prior to listening, I would never have guessed it was completed by another (modern) hand. For that, Levin's endeavors require the highest merit. (The "Agnus Dei" is especially emotionally charged, adapted from the aria "Fra l'oscure" in Mozart's aforementioned cantata, and completed by the "Dona nobis pacem" fugue, the theme an authentic Mozart creation.)

It is a recording one will have to approach with open ears. No, Professor Levin is not Mozart, but he is surely the best living candidate to complete Mozart's unfinished masterpieces. Having heard this man speak to college campuses in person, as well as reading his publications, it is clear his understanding of the subject is absolutely unparalleled.

As for the recording itself, Helmuth Rilling leads with precision and clarity. His expertise with Bach's choral music serves him well here, in this heavily contrapuntal Mozart mass (itself a work of experimental nature following Mozart's exposure to Bach's contrapuntal technique). As for the "brassiness" a previous review mentioned: it seems rather refreshing that finally more conductors are paying more attention to balance with their orchestras... after all Mozart must have included a brass section here to be heard.

The singers are excellent. Diana Damrau alone is reason enough to get this record. She is a great talent and has proved herself to be a true Mozartian. From Dr. Robert Levin's amazing scholarship, to the efforts of the singers, this is a recording a would not hesitate to recommend.

It is difficult to understand what "Observer" disliked about Robert Levin's completion of Mozart's glorious Mass in C Minor, especially in Helmuth Rilling's magnificent performance with his Stuttgart forces and soloists. Maybe that reviewer finds any "completion" of a masterpiece "presumptious" (so long, Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Pictures"). Rather than intellectually analyzing every added fugue to see whether it goes on for too long a time, I prefer to listen with open ears and mind and bask in the enchanting score. Certainly of all Mozart's works, the C Minor Mass tends most to sound "Baroque" (indeed, even Romantic) in its drama and passion. As for the "brassyness" [sic]of the added orchestrations, again nothing sounds out of place. Hearing the originally 45-minute incomplete mass pour out of my speakers (or through my headphones) for nearly an hour and a quarter has been a repeatedly enthralling experience. The soloists are wonderful, the chorus enthralling, the direction by Helmuth Rilling of the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart exhilariating. Do not let "Observer's" grumpiness keep you from enjoying this monumental masterpiece.

I admire Robert Levin as much any classical music buff. His restoration of the Requiem is miraculous, and his thrilling period performances of Mozart's keyboard concertos I can listen to over and over again and never tire of them. But why tinker with a piece of music that really doesn't need any improvement? So what if Mozart never finished this amazing Mass, when I listen to the monumental fragment there is nothing left to do but be totally blown away. It is one of the most compelling and emtionally draining pieces in the classical repetoire, so why make it longer than it already is? Can't we just enjoy what Mozart left us? I guess DR. Levin chose to "complete" this piece simply because he could. No doubt, Levin is a terrific improviser at the keyboard but as a composer he will never come close to Mozart's level. I respect his efforts, but for myself, I prefer to listen to Mozart's score by itself, which features a more magnificent ending than Levin, or anyone else for that matter, will ever come up with.

I recently purchased Levin's completion of the Requiem K. 626 and this, the Mass K. 427. I expected to like the requiem, where Levin did some recomposing. I expected to dislike this version - which contains new music for one third of the work. It was the other way around. I like Levin here, and not in the requiem. Why? There we are dealing with a replacement and recomposition of known movements. Here we are substituting something for nothing i.e. instead of not having the movements at all, we have Levin's guess at how they might have sounded.

Levin's use of Mozart's sketches and other Mozart material sound to me like convincing Mozart. Mozart just might have completed his mass like that. The Dona Nobis Pacem is based on a sketch Mozart wrote for that movement. For those who want their Msss complete, this works better than Rudolf Moralt's recording using K. 262 to fill in the remaining movements.

Rilling conducts a very good performance (though hardly definitive). I suspect that most will ignore this completion. The torso works very well, even if it can't be used in a liturgical setting (because of the missing movements). It is good to have one recording of Levin's completion.

People will always have their own opinion on whether to finish an uncompleted masterpiece. I prefer to go by the project and judge each on their own merits.
In this case, I liked what I heard. As has been stated in other reviews, most of the missing material is by Mozart himself (taken from a piece that he made using recycled music from this mass). The justification is that Mozart wrote this music to go with music from the mass--why not include it in the Mass? Everyone must make up their own mind whether this works, but I had no problem with it, and in fact it is a very satisfying solution.
A great deal of thought has been used to create an overall structure that matches Mozart's other masses, and in preserving a logical key signature flow to the movements. To me, nothing sticks out as inappropriate.
A couple of reviewers have complained about the Dona Nobis, but this is based on a fragment written by Mozart himself for this mass. And if they were expecting a big blow-out finish (like in the Requiem), then they need to revisit what the words of Dona Nobis Pacem mean. A big finish would be all wrong.
In any event, you'll need to hear it to judge for yourself. The one thing you won't quibble about is the quality of the performance--first rate.

In spite of the critics knocking each other over to say glorious things about the mass, the additions left me cold. I felt like I was auditing a class in fugue writing in the style of Mozart 101. A genius visualizes the development of a theme and weaves the way masterfully in a manner that is both logical and beautiful. Levin has the logic down pat, but not the beauty - - and the repetitions of the themes that he felt compelled to state, again and again, and again, and when he finally gets cooking on some interesting development, he hits you over with the head with the subject a few more times for good measure. The developments are very boring. Progressions are taken out of the Mozart play book in the most plebian of ways. Like, see what a great scholar I am. I studied Mozart and now I can write like Mozart. And unfortunately, he also missed the chronological mark with some of his writing sounding decidedly baroque, not to mention the brassyness of his added orchestrations. But that could have been partly the fault of the recording engineer.

I particularly found the Dona Nobis movement irritating. The theme is something like you would find in a "Favorite Rounds for Children" book, and just when he starts to drive toward a pulse pounding climax, he restates "Dum dee da, dum de da, dum dee da didle dum dee da. in a way that totally deflates the whole effort. And then he slips in a very abrupt, unprepared ending that makes you think, "Oh no. You're not really going to end it like that. Very unsatisfying!! Levin should write his own music and let the dead RIP.

In the movie AMADEUS, the aged Salieri describes looking at the score of Mozart's work as if it were a fence between him and the voice of providence; in the background we hear the most beautiful melody, sung by soprano.

In reality, the original soprano was Constanze, younger sister of a famous singer who had once travelled with an amazing youth as he wowed the courts of Europe. As an adult, Mozart was merely a genius and not the object of Aloysia's continued attention. How he ended up on moma Weber's doorstep is another story, but needless to say speculation as to the motivation for writing this grand mass featuring his bride is hard to avoid, as well as why he left it incomplete.

It may be more respectful, and certainly safer, to let the fragments speak for themselves in performance. However, on a 250th celebration, it is understandably tempting to make the careful effort of filling in the blanks. Levin's work here is scholarly, and neither fractured nor revelatory.

The performance is strong, balanced and consistent. There is surely energy and joy in the presentation. Happy birthday, Herr Mozart.

Utterly dreadful. The dona nobis was the ultimate insult to Mozart, and indeed, to all composers of mozart's era or earlier. Like some tarted up chorus from some third-rate opera, it screeches, yells, and bellows with Beethovian rythms. These additions by Levin are unholy abominations that reference various periods from Baroque to modern day with little regard for musicality. Never mind the mediocrity of the fugue writing, that's not unexpected after hearing Levin previous efforts, but to end a work that begins so sublimely with such wretched cacophony .... there are no words to describe it.

The performance is itself tolerable if dull and poorly paced at times with inappropriately operatic vocals. To their credit, the instruments do sound clean and pure although they never quite blend well with the voices. Insufficient rehearsals, perhaps.