Although there has been plenty of discussion of Bruckner symphonies on the forum, and a number in Record Review/ CD Review, little attention seems to have been paid to his religious music (most of which predates the symphonies). The E minor mass is my favourite amongst these works and I recently bought the Cleobury/ Kings recording issued late last year (and Sir Stephen's last recording with the choir). I have enjoyed this and feel that the engineers and producer have done well with the college chaapel acoustic. I also have a copy of Sir Roger Norrington's performance on LP, but I have not heard this for some years - I rarely listen to vinyl LPs. I would be interested to hear others' views on this work and other recordings. In particular, has anyone heard the Herreweghe recording with period instruments? I considered this when I bought the Cleobury but decided in favour of Kings.
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Both the other 2020 releases - Herreweghe c/w the Te Deum on Phi, and the Berlin RSO/RSO Choir with Leenaars on Pentatone (c/w the Stravinsky Mass, and very tellingly so) are outstanding; my double-go-to for the wonderful serene E minor now, an iconic work for me. (and yes -my first one was the Jochum).
Excellent sound on both, IIRC the Herreweghe a little more spacious and atmospheric, instrumentally a little softer and more recessed too.......
"How happy could I be with either, were t'other dear charmer away" as I just said about Malcolm Arnold 3 and 4!
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It should be noted that Cleobury uses boy trebles for the soprano and alto parts in his E Minor recording, whereas Bruckner wrote it for mixed chorus, female voices for those.Last edited by jayne lee wilson; 30-08-21, 17:11.
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