Well, what a coincidence! I saw this work performed yesterday evening by the Santa Cecilia orchestra here in Rome. Conductor: Reinhard Goebel in lovely red dickie bow. It was very good, a tad fast. Classics Today web site has many other versions stated as the best.
My first CD of my now fair sized collection was the B Minor Mass. Klemperer, which goes on forever. I later picked up a copy of Shaw's. But I haven't listened to either in years. There is so much other music to get familiar with.
Love the connection with preserving the music by writing sacred pieces. In that vein, I have always thought that no composer penned a Requiem, who did not think that it would, one day be used, for his/her own obsequies.
This Richter recording of the B Minor Mass was my first of this work and my first Richter recording. I own it on both CD and download and listen to it frequently - also has sentimental value for the above reasons. However, at the risk of being booed on this forum, I am less happy with his chorus' articulation in the fast movements. That staccato, heavily aspirated singing technique now sounds very heavy handed and mannered though still viscerally exciting in David's words. That said the recording on the whole is beautifully done and the chorus, orchestra and soloists are splendid. As to Richter's choral technique he opted for a more natural flowing approach from around the mid-60's on - I believe he needed to change the performing style. You can hear the difference in said style from his choral recordings from the 50's to the B-Minor Mass and them from around the time he recorded the Christmas Oratorio - another great account by the way. From then on he only used the detached, aspirated style in the choruses when he needed to make a dramatic point with the text. Still, his 1962 account of the Mass is one of my favorites and one I keep coming back to. I also own Richter's later live recording and definitely agree with David that the earlier '62 studio account was the better of the two - the live performance does not take off like the earlier one and the choir seems to be having an off day. In general Richter is my go to for Bach. Too bad so many of his recordings command such insanely high prices online but I guess part of this is demand (with some greed thrown in).
There are some who would cancel this one due to Herta Töpper alone. I'm not one of them. To this day, I still hold her Cherubino in the Fricsay "Le nozze di Figaro" is one of the best and most comical I've ever heard.
I cannot disagree. This is one of the handful of truly great Bach recordings. Richter realizes the scope and majesty of the work better than just about any other version I have heard through the years (and I have heard dozens, most of them very fine, including many HIP ones). If I were to pick just one passage in this performance that epitomizes Richter's unique grasp of Bach's evocation of divine majesty it would be the climax of the "gratias agimus tibi"/"dona nobus pacem" chorus. At the point at which the first trumpet peals away from doubling the soprano line, is joined by the two other trumpets and then timpani, the heavens open in a way that is unique among the recordings of the work with which I am familiar. Corboz's first recoriding of the Mass comes close to Richter at that point, but so many other versions miss the full glory of that transcendent moment. Some of Richter's later recordings can seem rigid and heavy-handed; but in the Mass he has few rivals.
I once interviewed Maestro Suzuki, who mentioned the puzzle over the Lutheran Bach setting the whole Roman ordinary of the Mass. After a performance, one friend said: 'You've proved that it's a Catholic Mass.' And another told him: 'Now we can be certain that it's Protestant.'
I've only known the Gardiner on this one and always been very happy with it. But I've been resistant to seeking out other recordings; it's not like a 20-minute Mozart symphony where I can easily compare them in an afternoon. I just don't think I have the fortitude to side-by-side different recordings of this massive beast.
Love your pick of Stephen Layton and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for this one….it has the lighter, quicker style of the period instrument style but a little extra oomph…
Dave never discusses audio equipment, and I think rightly so. First, you will never have exactly the same listening situation as he does--even if you use the same gear, the room (or your head and ears in the case of headphones) will be different. And second, a good recording will make its effect on any decent playback system. Indeed, I have been greatly moved when listening to performances over seriously sub-standard gear, like say, a table radio of dubious quality, or a car radio while driving--about the most anti-musical situation you can imagine. Great artistry, whether of the composer, or performers or both, has a way of coming through, regardless. Of course, it's fine to get into arguing about the merits of various hi-fi gear, if that is what you like to do. That's a different thing, and Mr. Hurwitz has made it clear that is not what he does.
As of 11/19 Amazon (US) charged $229 for the LPs and $36 for the CDs. Go figure. PS: I had the good fortune to attend a performance of this piece by Karl Richter and his Munich forces given at a church in San Francisco in the mid 70s.
Back in the 60s, when I was a kid, I was not a fan of Bach's choral music. But then I heard Richter and it was like a bolt of lightning that showed what Bach could be. I wasn't the B-minor, but the Magnificat and Cantata #78 that I first heard, but that is beside the point. My point is that Richter, while not into all the trappings and dogma of HIP, was the person who fathered the feeling of HIP, and for that I am very thankful.
Truly a classic one! The choir and the sonics are stunning!
Thank you for more this video, Dave! Take care
I have 100+ recordings of this work. (Most collectors obsessed over one work at one time or another.) This is indeed the one I leep coming back to.
This, recording is amazing, for sure. Karl Richter was a genius.
Well, what a coincidence! I saw this work performed yesterday evening by the Santa Cecilia orchestra here in Rome. Conductor: Reinhard Goebel in lovely red dickie bow. It was very good, a tad fast. Classics Today web site has many other versions stated as the best.
My first CD of my now fair sized collection was the B Minor Mass. Klemperer, which goes on forever. I later picked up a copy of Shaw's. But I haven't listened to either in years. There is so much other music to get familiar with.
Love the connection with preserving the music by writing sacred pieces. In that vein, I have always thought that no composer penned a Requiem, who did not think that it would, one day be used, for his/her own obsequies.
This Richter recording of the B Minor Mass was my first of this work and my first Richter recording. I own it on both CD and download and listen to it frequently - also has sentimental value for the above reasons. However, at the risk of being booed on this forum, I am less happy with his chorus' articulation in the fast movements. That staccato, heavily aspirated singing technique now sounds very heavy handed and mannered though still viscerally exciting in David's words. That said the recording on the whole is beautifully done and the chorus, orchestra and soloists are splendid. As to Richter's choral technique he opted for a more natural flowing approach from around the mid-60's on - I believe he needed to change the performing style. You can hear the difference in said style from his choral recordings from the 50's to the B-Minor Mass and them from around the time he recorded the Christmas Oratorio - another great account by the way. From then on he only used the detached, aspirated style in the choruses when he needed to make a dramatic point with the text. Still, his 1962 account of the Mass is one of my favorites and one I keep coming back to. I also own Richter's later live recording and definitely agree with David that the earlier '62 studio account was the better of the two - the live performance does not take off like the earlier one and the choir seems to be having an off day. In general Richter is my go to for Bach. Too bad so many of his recordings command such insanely high prices online but I guess part of this is demand (with some greed thrown in).
There are some who would cancel this one due to Herta Töpper alone. I'm not one of them. To this day, I still hold her Cherubino in the Fricsay "Le nozze di Figaro" is one of the best and most comical I've ever heard.
For Cherubino, try also Frederica von Stade in Georg Solti recording !
@ . I have it!!! Ever since it first came out! And yes, it’s amazing.
Could not agree more. And IMHO Töpper's Agnus Dei in this recording is to die for.
I cannot disagree. This is one of the handful of truly great Bach recordings. Richter realizes the scope and majesty of the work better than just about any other version I have heard through the years (and I have heard dozens, most of them very fine, including many HIP ones). If I were to pick just one passage in this performance that epitomizes Richter's unique grasp of Bach's evocation of divine majesty it would be the climax of the "gratias agimus tibi"/"dona nobus pacem" chorus. At the point at which the first trumpet peals away from doubling the soprano line, is joined by the two other trumpets and then timpani, the heavens open in a way that is unique among the recordings of the work with which I am familiar. Corboz's first recoriding of the Mass comes close to Richter at that point, but so many other versions miss the full glory of that transcendent moment. Some of Richter's later recordings can seem rigid and heavy-handed; but in the Mass he has few rivals.
I once interviewed Maestro Suzuki, who mentioned the puzzle over the Lutheran Bach setting the whole Roman ordinary of the Mass. After a performance, one friend said: 'You've proved that it's a Catholic Mass.' And another told him: 'Now we can be certain that it's Protestant.'
I've only known the Gardiner on this one and always been very happy with it. But I've been resistant to seeking out other recordings; it's not like a 20-minute Mozart symphony where I can easily compare them in an afternoon. I just don't think I have the fortitude to side-by-side different recordings of this massive beast.
That's fair. Gardiner is excellent.
Love your pick of Stephen Layton and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for this one….it has the lighter, quicker style of the period instrument style but a little extra oomph…
You can love both. That's part of the fun.
Curious what kind of hifi gear you are using to listen to all this lovely music
Me too 😊
I never discuss audio equipment.
Dave never discusses audio equipment, and I think rightly so. First, you will never have exactly the same listening situation as he does--even if you use the same gear, the room (or your head and ears in the case of headphones) will be different. And second, a good recording will make its effect on any decent playback system. Indeed, I have been greatly moved when listening to performances over seriously sub-standard gear, like say, a table radio of dubious quality, or a car radio while driving--about the most anti-musical situation you can imagine. Great artistry, whether of the composer, or performers or both, has a way of coming through, regardless.
Of course, it's fine to get into arguing about the merits of various hi-fi gear, if that is what you like to do. That's a different thing, and Mr. Hurwitz has made it clear that is not what he does.
Well - Amazon has it for only $250. I'll take two.
Oy!
As of 11/19 Amazon (US) charged $229 for the LPs and $36 for the CDs. Go figure.
PS: I had the good fortune to attend a performance of this piece by Karl Richter and his Munich forces given at a church in San Francisco in the mid 70s.
Back in the 60s, when I was a kid, I was not a fan of Bach's choral music. But then I heard Richter and it was like a bolt of lightning that showed what Bach could be. I wasn't the B-minor, but the Magnificat and Cantata #78 that I first heard, but that is beside the point. My point is that Richter, while not into all the trappings and dogma of HIP, was the person who fathered the feeling of HIP, and for that I am very thankful.
What?? You mean you didn't pick Hermann Scherchen's wild eccentric ego trip??? 😂
Always an adventure with Scherchen!