Customer Reviews

Rossini - Petite Messe Solennelle / Gasdia, Fink, La Scola, Ellero D'Artegna, Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, Corboz

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The opening chords of Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle are one of the great moments in music, a wheezy, lugubrious harmonioum that comes from some ethereal and transcendant musical world. Then a low and ominous piano joins, creating a lovely and poetic setting. Corboz takes this way too fast in my opinion; it just whistles through what should build slowly and ominously. There is no sense of the holy, it sounds like a train going by.

But it gets better, and the rousing Cum Sanctu Spiritu blisters. There is real longing in this wonderful music. The soloists are good, and after that inappropriately zippy opening, the pace is right.

A very quiet recording as well; mastered at a low volume. Have to turn it up to get all the detail.

Rossini wrote this piece with a very small ensemble in mind. Two pianos, one harmonium and 12 singers, including (!) 4 soloists. For a full blown mass, this is as small as you can get. Consequently, the music is mostly very intimate and tailored to performances in small chapels (which it indeed was intended for). Now Corboz has gathered a remarkably fine ensemble. The pianists play EXACTLY what is written in the score (which is pretty amazing because pianists are only too often completely oblivious of the most simple dynamics). The harmonium, which with its modest tone is often next to inaudible on a recording, can be heard most of the time (it takes a bit of concentrated listening of course). The chorus is great, with a wide dynamic range and an appropriately modest tone (probably due to a modest size).
So, the opening of the Kyrie is superb (though indeed a bit too fast) and the singing of the choir breathtaking. The problems start at the Laudamus te. The soloists are apparently all trained opera voices. Nothing wrong with that of course, but I doubt if this is the right music for these singers. At first the seem to restrain themselves and the a capella singing sounds fine, but when the parts become more and more demanding, the voices seem to get larger and larger. The contralto and tenor are especially dominating. And it only gets worse in the Gratia, in which the tenor unfolds his operatic tendencies fully after which he ruins the Domine Deus single-handed (or should I say single-voiced). He doesn't seem to notice at all that this is intimate, sacred music and not one of Rossini's gayer opera's! The Qui Tollis is much of a relief and mostly beautifully sung, with only slightly too much melodrama (compared to the Domine Deus, this is sober). The bass sings rather like a basso buffo in the Quoniam, heavily (g)rumbling his way through the piece. The Cum Sancto Spiritu is fine though the fuga seems a bit on the fast side (Corboz apparently likes his tempi faster than the ones written in the score).
The Credo (with the appropriate tempo designation "Allegro Cristiano") again features some splendid tutti passages and some less splendid solo singing (again that contralto and tenor!). In the Crucifixus the soprano shows herself to be the best soloist on this recording. She has an almost complete check on her own voice, but even she can't resist the temptation of making those ugly glissando-leaps all the while inventing her own dynamics, completely separate from the beautiful accompaniment she gets from harmonium and pianos. The massive Preludio Religioso is nicely done, with enough dynamic range to keep you interested during this (possibly) least interesting part of the Petit Messe. The second Preludio Religioso is exceptionally good and shows us that Rossini did know his classics. I would have liked to hear this piece on harmonium once (Rossini gives the conductor the choice), but as it is, the pianist plays very well! The opening of the Sanctus is very well controlled (you can really hear the differences between pp, mf and f ). Unfortunately, the soloists have to sing their deal also! The "O Salutaris" bulges under the soprano, as does the Agnus Dei (marvellous piano and harmonium!) under the contralto.
So, apart from the soloist (and possibly the tempi), this is as good a performance as one might wish to find! Shame on opera-trained voices though...

I love this music and now own three recording of it, of which, this is by far the best. I disagree that the tenor is too operatic, he sings beautifully and the whole performance is wonderful. If you want weak small voices, this is not for you, but if you love tasteful singing, please buy this. It will be a wonderful addition to any collection.