Prom 26 (2.8.12): Bach – Mass in B minor

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Thursday 2 August at 7.30 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

J. S. Bach: Mass in B minor (110 mins)

Joélle Harvey soprano
Malin Christensson soprano
Iestyn Davies counter-tenor
Ed Lyon tenor
Matthew Rose bass
Choir of the English Concert
The English Concert
Harry Bicket conductor

Nobody knows why it was written - it's one of the great mysteries of Bach's life. Why did he spend so much of his last two years reworking religious music he'd already written into an enormous setting of the Catholic Mass, in Latin? It's tempting to see the B minor Mass as a drawing-together-of-threads, the great composer's last religious will and testament, a monumental summation of his decades of work for the church... albeit usually for the Protestant Church, in German. Since the nineteenth century the Mass has become one of Bach's best-loved works - though it's almost always performed, as here, in concert halls rather than churches. But the English Concert, conductor Harry Bicket and their starry lineup of soloists are sure to bring new insights: their performance comes fresh from Leipzig, where they closed the 2012 Bachfest with the B minor Mass - in Bach's own church, the Thomaskirche.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Are there any bits in this amazing work that were not culled from earlier cantatas, etc. I don't recall having heard the opening Kyrie anywhere else, but much of the rest can be found in Bach's earlier work. What is so amazing about this patchwork is the feeling of unity, in spite of its diverse origins.

[edashtav]

Thursday 2 August at 7.30 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

J. S. Bach: Mass in B minor (110 mins)


The English Concert
Harry Bicket conductor

Nobody knows why it was written - it's one of the great mysteries of Bach's life. Why did he spend so much of his last two years reworking religious music he'd already written into an enormous setting of the Catholic Mass, in Latin?
. Since the nineteenth century the Mass has become one of Bach's best-loved works - though it's almost always performed, as here, in concert halls rather than churches. But the English Concert, conductor Harry Bicket and their starry lineup of soloists are sure to bring new insights: their performance comes fresh from Leipzig, where they closed the 2012 Bachfest with the B minor Mass - in Bach's own church, the Thomaskirche.

Fresh from Leipzig,? Certainly as fresh as melted snow from your Alps, Alpensinfonie. There was nothing inherited, nothing 19th century about this interpretation was there? At times, I found, Bicket's spring-cleaning to be disconcerting, maybe that's how it should be. There was nothing murky going on. Each line was thought through afresh and projected with startling clarity. Some of the transitions gave me a jolt. The sort of jolt that I once received turning up for a Rehearsal / Performance Day at Birmingham University under John Joubert. We sang & played the B minor from scratch. I'd never heard it before, let alone sung the piece. It hit me like ... a bolt from the blue, or, as it was so vast, an avalanche. I recaptured that zing and the feeling of being overwhelmed by something almost out of this world tonight. Tremendous! Well Done, everybody.

[DracoM]

Oh dear! Can I whisper a contrary view very quietly? I thought it pretty po-faced and tedious

[amac4165]

Oh dear! Can I whisper a contrary view very quietly? I thought it pretty po-faced and tedious

Know what you mean - It was sedate - but I quite liked it. Apparently they had had come from the Bach Festival in Leipzig where they played in St Thomas' church where Bach worked and died ! so no pressure there

[Tony Halstead]

It was sedate

SEDATE?
IMHO most of the tempi were much too fast.
I felt quite sorry for the horn player and the bass soloist in the 'Quoniam'.

[Mary Chambers]

SEDATE?
IMHO most of the tempi were much too fast.
I felt quite sorry for the horn player and the bass soloist in the 'Quoniam'.

I always do!

I agree, very fast tempi. I thought the performance overall was good, but I particularly enjoyed Iestyn Davies's contributions. What a singer - and he always seems so relaxed.

[mercia]

I have to agree about the tempi. There must surely be a limit after which it is impossible to properly vocally articulate those long semiquaver passages [I'm thinking of the choruses]

[amac4165]

SEDATE?
IMHO most of the tempi were much too fast.
I felt quite sorry for the horn player and the bass soloist in the 'Quoniam'.

The horn was just a "smudge" from where I was in the hall - 4th row arena

Amazing how perceptions differ - it must have been a "Bradley Wiggins" performance - looks like it was out for an afternoon stroll yet actually flying along !

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

IMHO most of the tempi were much too fast.

Of course it was, but that's the cool thing to do.

[Alf-Prufrock]

Isn't it amazing the variety of views one can have about the pace of music! What one person finds sedate others find too fast for proper articulation.

I must say I am on the fast side of the question and found most of the performance very good. The choir, I thought, was excellent (look at the famous or at least familiar people standing there - surely many of the 16 were present?), and on my equipment there was no hint of slurring. In fact, I thought the opening Kyrie should have been quicker yet - it is such a trudge if it isn't taken with some speed.

If anything, the orchestra was on the large side, but the sound was wonderful. The violins played beautifully with lustrous tone (in baroque terms). I don't think I've heard lovelier sound from HIPP violins anywhere else. But that is obviously only my experience.

Actually I was watching it on BBC4, and the sound there is certainly better than on Radio 3, whatever format.

[amac4165]

Isn't it amazing the variety of views one can have about the pace of music! What one person finds sedate others find too fast for proper articulation.

It would be a very dull place if there wasn't !

Being in the hall and at home are of course completely different experiences - many a time I have come out of the hall and thought "brilliant" listened on the iPlayer and thought "the isn't the same performance! - and vice -versa !

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

All joking apart, I would say this was the best HIPP performance of the work I have heard , by a considerable margin.

[amateur51]

It would be a very dull place if there wasn't !

Being in the hall and at home are of course completely different experiences - many a time I have come out of the hall and thought "brilliant" listened on the iPlayer and thought "the isn't the same performance! - and vice -versa !

Very strange, I agree but it has happened to me too

[jean]

Actually I was watching it on BBC4...

I had to miss it last night, but I thought I would watch as well listen to some of it, at any rate.

Can anyone explain why, when I click on 'Watch again' here, I'm still directed to the radio iPlayer?