BaL 26.09.20 - Mozart: Mass in C minor K427 'Great'

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 Building a Library
Simon Heighes chooses his favourite recording of Mozart's Mass in C minor, K427, 'Great'.
Mozart never finished his C minor Mass: it might have been the turmoil surrounding his resignation from the service of the bane of his life, the Archbishop of Salzburg, or the business of his recent marriage to Constanze Weber in 1782. (His father was against it.) But what there is of it is magnificent, including grand choruses harking back to the great choral works of Handel and Bach. And there is some ravishingly sensuous music for the two sopranos.

Available versions:

Barbara Bonney, Arleen Augér, Hans-Peter Blochwitz, Robert Holl, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado

Christina Landshamer, Anke Vondung, Steve Davislim, Tobias Berndt, Bavarian Radio Chorus & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Howard Arman

Sarah Wegener, Sophie Harmsen, Colin Balzer, Felix Rathgeber, Kammerchor Stuttgart, Hofkapelle Stuttgart, Frieder Bernius

Arleen Auger, Frederica von Stade, Frank Lopardo, Cornelius Hauptmann, Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Leonard Bernstein

Arleen Auger, Frederica von Stade, Frank Lopardo, Cornelius Hauptmann, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Leonard Bernstein (DVD)

Doris Soffel, Thomas Moser, Arleen Auger, Stephen Roberts, West German Radio Chorus, West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gary Bertini

Malin Hartelius, Stella Doufexis, Marcus Ullmann, István Kovács, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Choir of Clare College Cambridge, Ivor Bolton

Patricia Petibon, Lynne Dawson, Joseph Cornwell, Alan Ewing, Les Sacqueboutiers De Toulouse & Les Arts Florissants, William Christie

Gillian Keith, Tove Dahlberg, Thomas Cooley, Nathan Berg, Handel and Haydn Society, Harry Christophers

Helen Donath, Heather Harper, Ryland Davies, Stafford Dean, London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, Sir Colin Davis *

Elin Rombo, Stella Doufexis, Tilman Lichdi, Tareq Nazmi, Munchener Kammerorchester, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Peter Dijkstra

Maria Stader, Hertha Töpper, Ernst Haefliger, Ivan Sardi, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Chorus of St. Hedwig's Cathedral, NDR Chorus, Ferenc Fricsay

Sylvia McNair, Diana Montague, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Cornelius Hauptmann, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner

Miah Persson, Ann Hallenberg, Helge Rønning, Peter Mattei, Monteverdi Choir, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, The Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner (DVD)

Norine Burgess, Robert Holzer, Herbert Lippert, Viktoria Loukianetz, Kalman Strausz, Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia, Hungarian Radio Chorus, Michael Halasz

Robert Holl, Zsuzsanna Dénes, Kurt Equiluz, Krisztina Láki, Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Gabriele Hierdeis, Alison Browner, Marcus Ullmann, Kolner Kantorei, Volker Hempfling

Christiane Oelze, Jennifer Larmore, Scott Weir, Peter Kooy, La Chapelle Royale, Collegium Vocale Gent & Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Philippe Herreweghe *

Arleen Augér, Lynne Dawson, John Mark Ainsley, David Thomas, Winchester Cathedral Choir & The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood

Annelies Kupper, Lorenz Fehenberger, Hans Braun, Irmgard Seefried, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Eugen Jochum

Barbara Hendricks, Janet Perry, Peter Schreier, Benjamin Luxon, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Singverein, Herbert von Karajan

Ingeborg Wenglor, Ingrid Czerny, Rolf Apreck, Theo Adam
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Radio Chorus, Helmut Koch *

Sandrine Piau, Anne-Lise Sollied, Paul Agnew, Frédéric Caton, Accentus, La Chambre Philharmonique (on period instruments), Emmanuel Krivine

Natalie Dessay, Véronique Gens, Topi Lehtipuu, Luca Pisaroni, Chœur & Orchestre du Concert d’Astrée, Louis Langrée *

Eunyee You, Marie-Claude Chappuis, Werner Güra, Friedemann Röhlig, Choir of the Leipzig Opera, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Balázs Kocsár (DVD/Blu-ray)

lIeana Cotrubas, Kiri Te Kanawa, Werner Krenn, Hans Sotin, John Alldis Choir & New Philharmonia Orchestra, Raymond Leppard

Kathleen Battle, Martin Haselböck, Lella Cuberli, Peter Seiffert, Kurt Moll, Walter Hagen-Groll, Wiener Staatsoper, Wiener Philharmoniker, James Levine

Diana Higbee, Blandine Staskiewicz, Xavier Mauconduit, Jean-Louis Serre, Choeur & Orchestre Francais d’Oratorio, Jean-Pierre Lore

Eldar Aliev, James McLean, Lynda Russell, Mila Vilotjievic, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Athestis Chorus, Peter Maag *

Camilla Tilling, Sarah Connolly, Timothy Robinson, Neal Davies, Gabrieli Consort & Players, Paul McCreesh

Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Gwynne Howell, Felicity Palmer, Margaret Marshall, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chorus, Sir Neville Marriner

Valentina Farcas, Annemarie Kremer, Daniel Sans, Christof Fischesser, Jens Wollenschläger, Chamber Choir of Europe & Camerata Würzburg, Nicol Matt *

Carolyn Sampson, Camerata Salzburg, Salzburger Bachchor, Andrew Manze (DVD/Blu-ray)

Klaus Mertens, Barbara Schlick, Christoph Prégardien, Monika Frimmer, Koelner Kammerchor, Collegium Cartusianum, Kölner Kammerchor, Peter Neumann

Isabelle Lambelet, Bernarda Fink, Malin Hartelius, Philippe Dinkel, Orchestre des Collèges et Gymnases Lausannois, Choeur de Béthusy, Orchestre Cinqsept, Jacques Pache *

Maria Stader, Annelohre Cahnbley, George Maran, Walter Raninger, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Salzburger Rundfunkchor, Mozarteum-Chor, Bernhard Paumgartner

Camilla Tilling, Sarah Connolly, Timothy Robinson, Neal Davies, Barbara Bonney, Gabrieli Consort & Players, The English Concert, Paul McCreesh, Trevor Pinnock

Christiane Oelze, Ibolya Verebics Scot Weir, Oliver Widmer, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling
Diana Damrau, Juliane Banse, Lothar Odinius, Markus Marquardt, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling

Maria Stoitcheva, Vetka Petkova, Georgi Seerbezov, Svetoslav Obretenov Chapel Choir, Sofia Symphony Orchestra,
Georgi Robev *

Staatskapelle Dresden, Rundfunkchor Leipzig, Peter Schreier *

Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz, Anne Sofie von Otter, Uwe Heilmann, Rene Pape, Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti

Carole Bogard, Ann Murray, Richard Lewis, Michael Rippon, English Chamber Orchestra, Amor Artis Chorale, Johannes Somary

Carolyn Sampson, Olivia Vermeulen, Makoto Sakurada, Christian Immler, Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki (SACD)

Robert Lloyd, Edith Wiens, Dame Felicity Lott, Laurence Dale, London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir, Franz Welser-Möst *


* = download only

[Pulcinella]

Thanks for another heroic piece of compilation, Alpie.
If anything, I thought that there might be even more versions than that.
(Cue someone reporting one left out! )

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I know I've missed out the Solti Vienna recording...

[jayne lee wilson]

There is an excellent recent release of the C Minor Mass from the Musiciens du Louvre/Marc Minkowski (you'd expect nothing beneath excellence from this source) of the Helmut Eder Edition published in 1985 in the New Mozart Edition.
Sadly marred by brief editing glitches as Threasher pointed out (G. 9/2020), but the minimal vocal resources are strikingly effective, and it is very well worth hearing.

[MickyD]

I doubt if I will surprise anyone in saying that the Hogwood is much to my taste; indeed I think it was one of his very finest recordings.

Interesting to see that Arleen Auger appears in several versions.

[Pulcinella]

I doubt if I will surprise anyone in saying that the Hogwood is much to my taste; indeed I think it was one of his very finest recordings.

I'm certainly not surprised.

Interesting to see that Arleen Auger appears in several versions.

Including Bernstein's, with an orchestra that one would not usually associate with him.

JEG (CD) and Leppard here.

I dug out the BBC MM cover CD too, and was surprised and intrigued to read this about one of the soloists, Emma Bell (my emphasis):
She is a member of the Berlin Komische Oper, where she has sung many of the title roles in Mozart's operas.
Would that include a comedy version of Don Giovanni, I wondered.

[cloughie]

I doubt if I will surprise anyone in saying that the Hogwood is much to my taste; indeed I think it was one of his very finest recordings.

Interesting to see that Arleen Auger appears in several versions.

That means at least three ‘must have’ versions - already have them -and the Abbado also has Barbara Bonney.

[LHC]

I've got Leppard (Te Kanawa and Cotrubas both wonderful) and Abbado on CD, and JEG on DVD (if memory serves, this was taken from the Nobel Prize concert, and also has very good soloists, especially Miah Persson).

[verismissimo]

Although I appear to have three recordings - Stader/BRSO/Fricsay (1960), Donath/LSO/Davis (1971), Marshall/ASMF/Marriner (1979) - it's not a work I know well, rarely turning to it.

I'll review what I have - and get something more recent (and HIP). But which?

[Flay]

Do DVDs count? I'm not sure that this HIPP version is available on CD or record, although it can be viewed on YouTube: Barbara Bonney, Anne Sophie von Otter, Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Alastair Miles with Gardiner conducting the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir in 1991.

Bonney's Et incarnatus est is superb

[MickyD]

Although I appear to have three recordings - Stader/BRSO/Fricsay (1960), Donath/LSO/Davis (1971), Marshall/ASMF/Marriner (1979) - it's not a work I know well, rarely turning to it.

I'll review what I have - and get something more recent (and HIP). But which?

If you like the sound of boys' voices in the choir, I'd definitely recommend the Hogwood. In fact it may be the only one with boys' voices in the catalogue, though not too sure of that.

[verismissimo]

If you like the sound of boys' voices in the choir, I'd definitely recommend the Hogwood. In fact it may be the only one with boys' voices in the catalogue, though not too sure of that.

Just invested, thanks MickyD. I've been listening lots in recent times to Hogwood's Haydn and Mozart symphony recordings. Pioneering and seriously underrated when they came out.

[MickyD]

Just invested, thanks MickyD. I've been listening lots in recent times to Hogwood's Haydn and Mozart symphony recordings. Pioneering and seriously underrated when they came out.

I agree, and I don't think you will be disappointed.

[Barbirollians]

I agree, and I don't think you will be disappointed.

Always very fond of the McNair /Gardiner account but that You Tube 1991 cast of soloists sounds like a must listen

[Bryn]

Always very fond of the McNair /Gardiner account but that You Tube 1991 cast of soloists sounds like a must listen

The DVD, coupled with Dvorak 7 is at a reasonable price on amazon.co.uk