Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra :: Mozart: Great Mass in C minor

Great, even if too polished...

06/12/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Like most of the digital recordings Karajan made, this one is also excessively polished and emotionally detached. However, it is an overall great performance(more perfection than the somewhat overrated live Bernstein recording around the same time), and soprano Barbara Hendricks gives a really beautiful performance. She is perfect...The other soloists are good too. The dynamics are large, some of the quiet moments are hard to hear, and the organ, if present, is not heard. In general, Karajan's recordings made during the 60's are usually among the very best ever, and most of his 70's recordings are really wonderful too. So instead of buying his DDD recordings, consider the ADD ones, when he was widely acclaimed as the best conductor in the world, and his conducting had none of the mannerisms and blandness of his later career during the 1980's. Besides, the Berlin Philharmonic was a much better orchestra during the 1960's and 70's, and those recordings usually have even more outstanding soloists, like Gundula Janowitz in the earlier Mass in C recording."

Lesser known than the Requiem Mass, but more beautiful

Tom Sanders | Lansing, Mi United States | 08/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a first rate production of one of the most beautiful choral works ever written. Most folks don't ever discover this music until after they have been exposed to the more well known Requiem Mass. There are those of us, though, who think that this is Mozart's great choral masterpeice. You may not agree, but if you love choral works you sure will be glad you discovered this enchanting bit of Mozart's output. I haven't heard Gardiner's version, but I'd bet it is supberb also."