MOZART: Mass in C minor – Gillian Keith, soprano/ Tove Dahlberg, mezzo-soprano/ Thomas Cooley, tenor/ Nathan Berg, baritone/ Handel and Haydn Society/ Harry Christophers, conductor – Coro 16084, 54:10 [Distr. by Allegro] ****:
Christophers departs his usual venue with the Sixteen to take up residence with Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, the oldest continually-performing arts organization in the United States (and consequently America’s premiere period instrument band), responsible for the first performances on these shores of Messiah, Haydn’s Creation, and Verdi’s Requiem. They are a decent-sized band in this recording, using 38 instrumentalists and 38 choir members, though the choir sounds larger for its size than the orchestra does. The recording has the additional favor of being set live in Boston’s Symphony Hall, one of the best such venues in the world. So how does it stack up?
Pretty well overall, though the competition is brutal in this area. Bernstein (DGG), Karajan (DGG), Leppard (EMI) all have superior readings on the market, and I cannot say that this one outclasses them; Bernstein easily has the best tempi and most thrilling ending, while Karajan has Barbara Hendricks who sings radiantly. Leppard has perhaps the best solo quartet. As for period instruments, Gardiner, Hogwood, and Langree (Virgin) are each outstanding in their various ways, especially Gardiner, but Christophers holds his own even though I think his soloists might be the weakest of the pack. However, weak among greats is a relative term, and even here they perform admirably enough to not spoil anything and the two sopranos have moments of great beauty.
We still don’t really know why Mozart failed to complete this mass; perhaps it was because after a certain point he had done all he felt he needed to do in respect to his newly-discovered love of Bach and Handel. He did mention that he “hoped”
he would be able to complete it, but by no means is there any great urgency in this statement. One wishes he had, though in his day he had to realize that the length was already far beyond what had been decreed as acceptable for a performance of the mass, and maybe he felt frustrated enough in this that he decided there was no use to proceed any further. Or maybe he just got distracted. But one thing is for sure: this work is easily the equal of Bach’s B-minor Mass, and if it had been completed would be a candidate for one of the greatest settings ever done. Even in torso status it comes very close.
The sound is nicely captured in Boston and the choir sounds wonderful, able to really bring out the volume when needed. I do wish that Coro had decided to eliminate the unnecessary applause at the end; the audience is quiet as a mouse through the whole thing, and there was enough silent time after the last chord to have made a cutoff. This is not a first choice in my book but is good enough to stay in my collection, and I think you’ll find it most enjoyable.
— Steven Ritter
