JS Bach
Mass in B minor
Julie Roset (soprano), Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano), Lucile Richardot (alto) et al; Pygmalion/Raphaël Pichon
Harmonia Mundi HMM902754.55 107 mins (2CD)
Clip: JS Bach – Mass in B minor: Kyrie eleison II
This new recording of Bach’s Mass in B Minor from Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon’s period-instrument band and choir, is an interpretation of tremendous variety, every movement distinctively crafted. Some (such as the two Kyries and the Qui Tollis) are strikingly slow, yet in a way that feels intense and introspective, never ponderous. Others, such as the Gloria and Credo, set off at a tremendous lick, almost inviting us to get up and dance. Elsewhere, Pichon gives us a spirited Cum Sancto Spiritu full of rhythmic verve, an expansive Sanctus in which the voices reach ecstatically for the heavens, and a quasi-three-dimensional Dona nobis pacem, which seems to approach from a distance and explode into a triumphant blaze of sound.
Choral and instrumental passages are impressively disciplined and well-characterised throughout. The chorus’s attention to detail in articulating text and shaping phrases is second-to-none, and there are delicious moments aplenty in the orchestral playing: dramatic spear-like swipes from the strings in the Crucifixus and gorgeous, blossoming winds in the Et in Spiritum. The soloists, all specialists in this repertoire, are superb, the blend in duets excellent: a particular highlight is the sprightly Christe Eleison from the warm-toned mezzo Beth Taylor and the soprano Julie Roset, who combines clarity and purity of tone with an immense joie de vivre. There are countless available recordings of this work from which to choose, but every choral music enthusiast would be well-advised to add this dynamic, imaginative new reading to their collection. It is truly exceptional. Alexandra Wilson
