The Best Modern Recording of Bernstein's 'Mass'
J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 03/06/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It hardly seems possible to a geezer like me that Bernstein's Mass was premiered almost forty years ago. I remember like yesterday the bombshell it set off with pedantic critics hating it -- Harold Schonberg of the New York Times called it "the greatest mélange of styles since the ladies' magazine recipe for steak fried in peanut butter and marshmallow sauce" -- and other more adventurous critics clutching it to their breast like a prodigal son. I consider myself to be on the pedantic side, but I loved it from the start. It was startling, yes, that Bernstein mixed so many musical styles -- romanticism, neoclassicisim, jazz, atonality, rock, pop, chant, hymnody, spoken word -- in disconcerting ways. But that approach perfectly matched the struggle inherent in the text. Bernstein's energy, ability to write memorable tunes and to require rhythmic subtlety drew me to it and I practically wore out the original LP with Bernstein conducting. I also attended three different live productions -- yes, 'productions': it IS, after all, subtitled 'A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers' that literally requires over one hundred participants -- and was caught up in the delirium they engender. Perhaps because there are some similarities between today's world situation -- a populace at odds with their governments over wars, politicians held in low regard and friction between contending faiths -- and that of the early 1970s, 'Mass' has lately had a rising number of productions world-wide. Its pleas for peace, for cooperation between people and nations, and for progressive ideas strike a chord with modern listeners.
There has been one other relatively recent SACD recording of the work with Kent Nagano conducting and Jerry Hadley as the all-important Celebrant. It is a dud both aurally and musically.
This recording, on the other hand, is a clear triumph. Conductor Kristjan Järvi (the younger of two conductor sons of noted conductor Neeme Järvi) leads an ensemble he founded in 1993, the Absolute Ensemble, combined with the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich (of which he is the music director), the Tölzer Knabenchor, the Chorus sine nomine, and the Company of Music (who sing as the street chorus), plus Randall Scarlata as the Celebrant. Most of the vocal soloists are Austrian, taken from the participating singing groups, and it is wonderful to hear their fluent American accents in this quintessentially American text.
One cannot erase memories of Alan Titus's magnificent Celebrant in the original recording, but the American baritone Randall Scarlata gives him a run for his money. Titus was only 26 when he created the part of the Celebrant and he certainly sounded a confused and conflicted young man. I was surprised to see the picture of Scarlata, who sounds equally young, and discover that he is middle-aged. He is a consummate actor in the part and completely satisfying, especially in the work's fifteen-minute-long mad scene, 'Things Get Broken.'
One cannot praise highly enough Järvi's musical direction. He gives the piece rhythmic snap, beautifully calculated balances, architectural flow and dynamic shaping that mark him out as a conductor to watch. As for the SACD recording, I can only say that it is among the best I've heard, particularly since the varied types of music and musicians must be enormously difficult to record. The score calls for quadraphonic tapes to be played occasionally and in SACD they are startlingly antiphonally present, something I've only ever experienced in live performance of this work. Chandos' engineers deserve kudos for what they have achieved. For those who will be listening to this set in plain vanilla stereo, it sounds terrific that way, too. Add to this that the set is at mid-price (almost half the cost of the Nagano set), and you have a certifiable winner.
Unequivocal and enthusiastic recommendation.
Scott Morrison"
THIS is the recording of "Mass" I've been waiting for!
M. MESSINA | Brooklyn, NY | 07/08/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have known this work since its premiere in 1971, and saw it performed live a couple of times then. The original Leonard Bernstein recording was at that time one of my favorite records; I wore out more than one vinyl copy. So of course when it became available on CD, even though I hadn't heard it for quite some time, I was delighted to purchase it.
Only to find my enthusiasm for the work, as presented on that old favorite recording, had, to my great disappointment, waned considerably in the intervening years: listening in the 21st Century, I winced as often as I smiled; some of the 1970s anachronisms, in the lyrics and in the orchestrations, sounded nothing less than hokey and painfully embarrassing. Sadly, I put the work aside.
Reading the poor reviews, I avoided the recording of a few years ago, but was thrilled to discover this new recording, and that it had garnered very favorable reviews. Listening myself, I find I agree entirely with the other reviewers' enthusiasm. Gone are many of the cornier lyrics (yay! No more "local vocal yokels"!); the orchestration has been re-worked to eliminate the worst of the 70s cliches as well. NOW this sounds like the classical work I honestly didn't know it was all along! And it's nothing short of magnificent. I adored Alan Titus' performance of the Celebrant, but Randall Scarlata is easily his equal.
I had hesitated to introduce friends interested in musical theater to Mass in its original recording, but now, I am very pleased that I can let them discover the true beauty of this work through this very fine new recording."
A little too clean...
Brian E. Burns | Dubuque, IA | 06/04/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a fine recording; it just lacks the spontaneity of the Bernstein recording. I also feel that the tempi are generally too bright and somewhat metronomic. I am thrilled that this masterpiece of twentieth-century eclecticism is finally being recorded, however, and this is certainly worth buying."
