This is the second Vesperae Solemnis I have reviewed in just a few weeks, and even though this one is on period instruments, the reading and recording far outshine the similar effort on Coviello Classics. Peter Neumann is a long standing force for good in the musical world, and his efforts in the period instrument realm are almost always devoid of stiff doctrinaire deviancy. This SACD features works that figured among the very last sacred efforts Mozart penned before finally having it out with the notorious Archbishop Colloredo (“May he leave, I don’t need him” were his famous last words about the composer). Bold indeed, considering the only reason we know of him at all today is because of the patronage he offered Mozart.
But the good Archbishop probably had a point; Mozart was frequently absent from his tolerated ecclesiastical duties. The last venture was to Mannheim and Paris in search of employment worthy of his gifts, the former presenting him with orchestral playing of which he had never heard the like and the latter offering him nothing but an organist position at Versailles. On top of it all, his mother took ill while he was there, and died a few days later. Mozart was heartbroken, but stayed on in Paris for two more months, and upon his return was greeted by an unhappy Leopold who blamed him in part for his mother’s demise. In 1781 he bolted Salzburg for Vienna never to look back, but left the despised Archbishop some fabulous music before he left.
It has been posited that perhaps both major works on this disc were in fact for one splendid celebration, that of the festis pallis, where the Archbishop celebrated mass while wearing his pallium, a piece of white wool given to him by the Pope. This is certainly possible, and would explain the “solemn” nature assigned to each of these pieces, but it is by no means certain, even with the close Koechel numbers. Whatever the reasons, these are seminal compositions that should rightfully take their places with the unfinished C-minor Mass, and the Coronation Mass. Incidentally, the inclusion of the Sonata is an organ-dominated piece that serves as a gradual, and is inserted between the Gloria and Credo movements of the mass, a common practice in Mozart’s day and in Colloredo’s court.
This recording tries to reconstruct the historical setup that Mozart might have used, placing the orchestra in the front of the choir and dividing the violins right and left, continuo in the middle along with lower strings, and the trombones on the left with the trumpets some distance behind the conductor. The surround sound picks this up very well, though MDG claims that only their 2+2+2 process fully captures the spatial elements involved. Whatever.
This is a beautifully planned and executed recording, with soloists at the top of their games, and a wonderful spirit animating the entire endeavor. Recommended with pleasure.
— Steven Ritter
[This is one of many “2+2+2” releases from MD&G on both SACD and DVD-A. They feel that for music in surround the center and subwoofer channels are not important, and instead they use those two channels for left and right height mics/speakers high above the front left and right speakers. The signals are compatible in standard 5.1 playback. We will shortly be featuring some feature review articles covering the 2+2+2 system and most of the discs using this alternative approach – which works well but takes some effort to set up…Ed.]
