Search - Various :: Beethoven: Missa Solemnis

Good recording at super budget price

02/24/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I happily recommend this CD - this is a rare bargain. Michael Gielen is surely a first-rate conductor; just listen to how he shapes the atmosphere in the Et Incarnatus in the Credo! It's magic. The soloists have done a good job also. Not often do we find all four able soloists together; in this work where the soli quartet occurs frequently, we can sit back and enjoy without having to frown at times. The sound is big, spacious, but transparently clear. Last but not least - it's under 3 bucks!"

Solid Gold!

R. C. Ross | Birmingham | 02/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A hidden nugget of solid gold! The conductor, Michael Gielen, directs an altogether remarkably fine recording of this towering masterpiece. The soloists are consistently good, the choir displays by turns strength, sensitivity and great power, the orchestra is equally fine. All-round a splendid piece of work at a ridiculously low price! Now you've found don't hesitate!"

A front-runner for a one-disc Missa Solemnis

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/15/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This live 'Missa Solemnis' dates from an autumn music festival held in Bad Urach, Germany, in 1987. It has bounced around on a number of labels and can be had very cheaply on the used market if you do a little searching. As a performance it's traditional, unlike period-flavored accounts by John Eliot Gardiner and David Zinman that also occupy only a single CD. All the forces involved are expert, from the Czech chorus to the four international soloists, the American soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson, the Czech mezzo and tenor Marjana Lipovske and Josef Protschka, and the Viennese bass Kurt Rydl.



In particular, this vocal quartet blend very well and encompass their difficult parts with the same as the more starry singers under Karajan (DG) and Klemperer (EMI) on their acclaimed versions. Michael Gielen had just taken over the SWR orchestra of Baden-Baden the year before. They perform very well, and the conductor has a forceful grip on the score, which comes across with real power, never slacking or running off the rails. Never, that is, until the Et vitam venturi fugue that ends the Credo, where Gielen's rushed tempo turns the choral execution to hash. Even under duress, however, the Prague Philharmonic Chorus doesn't resort to yelping and screeching; they are to be commended.



The only reason for not awarding the fifth star isn't musical but technical. Recorded in the town's church, this performance loses a lot of detail in the swampy acoustics. It's not fatal, or anywhere near, but I couldn't make out a single word in the climactic Gloria, among other places. If you can overlook that flaw, and a slightly muffled treble range, this is an inspiring reading all around."