COMPOSERS: Beethoven
LABELS: Decca Double Decca
WORKS: Mass in C; Missa solemnis
PERFORMER: Susan Dunn, Lucia Popp, etc; Ernst Senff Chamber Choir, RIAS Chamber Choir, Berlin RSO/Riccardo Chailly, Chicago SO & Chorus/Georg Solti
CATALOGUE NO: 455 014-2 ADD/DDD 1978/87
These recordings, though less than twenty years old, have a ‘far away’ feel. Neither hints at a revisionist agenda; neither is accompanied by a manifesto outlining correct Beethoven performance. If you like them, it won’t be because they’re ‘interesting’: it’ll be because they’re good. Chailly, in the Mass in C, is a master of shape. Solti creates something massive and precarious out of the Missa solemnis. We sense his forces are the less reliable but, amazingly, it all works. Christopher Wood
Beethoven: Mass in C; Missa solemnis
These recordings, though less than twenty years old, have a ‘far away’ feel. Neither hints at a revisionist agenda; neither is accompanied by a manifesto outlining correct Beethoven performance. If you like them, it won’t be because they’re ‘interesting’: it’ll be because they’re good. Chailly, in the Mass in C, is a master of shape. Solti creates something massive and precarious out of the Missa solemnis. We sense his forces are the less reliable but, amazingly, it all works. Christopher Wood
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:39 pm