A voice teacher and early music fan
George Peabody | Planet Earth | 12/05/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"RECORDED IN 1989, BUT ALSO PART OF CD 2 OF THE SET 'BOX MASSES' PETER NEUMANN 1990.
One of the difficulties with Mozart's mature output is the paucity of mass settings. He left the Archbishop of Salzburg just as his style had reached maturity. But the Archbishop had firm views on the length of services so that neither of Mozart's two final masses-the Coronation Masses K317, and the Missa Solemnis K337- is expansive. Of his two mass settings written after this period, he left the Mass in C minor, K427,as a magnificent torso and he died before he could finish the Requiem Mass.
The Coronation Mass was written in 1779, and though brief, is quite grandiose. It is scored for strings (minus violas and cellos), with oboes, horns, trumpets, trombones and timpani. In this work Mozart frequently uses a quartet of soloists to contrast with the Chorus. The music is also notable for the lovely soprano solo 'Agnus Dei' , which is a foreshadowing of the Countess's aria 'Dove Sono' in the Marriage of Figaro. The very excellent quartet on both Masses on this disc is: soprano (Patricia Kwella), contralto (Ulia Groenewold), tenor (Chrisopher Pregardien) and bass (Franz-Joseph Selig).
The Missa Solemns was written 1780, and again as prescribed by the Archbishop of Salzburg (who I already dislike)is on the short side, even a bit shorter than the Coronation Mass. We now again hear in the 'Agnus Dei' a foreshadowing of the soprano solo from 'Marriage of Figaro' 'Porgi Amor'. And beautiful it is as sung by Kwella.
The soloists present a skilled and very admirable performance, the soprano having the most to sing. The Chorus provides excellent, well-shaped singing and Neumann displays some very dramatic effects,especially in the 'Benedictus' sung as a choral fugue in K337. The Collegium Cartusianum plays well for Neumann which reflects their very thorough training.
The Liner Notes are quite skimpy and the text of the masses is not included. If you are a Mozart fan, you would do well by simply purchasing the 1990 Mozart Box Set that includes 3 CD's. I bought it a while back and it's great. I have reviewed it on the web site as it is still available.
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Track Listings (14) - Disc #1