Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer: Dorothee Mields, Patrick van Goethem, Johannette Zomer, Peter Kooij, Jan Kobow, Cappella Amsterdam
Orchestra: Orchestra of the 18th Century
Conductor: Frans Brüggen
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Glossa
Catalogue: GCD921112
Release: 2010
Size: 491 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Mass in B minor, BWV 232
01. Kyrie eleison (Chorus)
02. Duet. Christe eleison (Soprano 1, Soprano 2)
03. Kyrie eleison (Chorus)
04. Gloria in excelsis Deo (Chorus)
05. Et in terra pax (Chorus)
06. Aria. Laudamus te (Soprano 2)
07. Gratias agimus tibi (Chorus)
08. Domine Deus (Soprano 1, Tenor)
09. Qui tollis peccata mundi (Chorus)
10. Aria. Qui sedes ad dextram Patris (Alto)
11. Aria. Quoniam tu solus Sanctus (Bass)
12. Cum Sancto Spiritu (Chorus)
CD 02
Mass in B minor, BWV 232
01. Credo in unum Deum (Chorus)
02. Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem (Chorus)
03. Duet. Et in unum Dominum (Soprano 1, Alto)
04. Et incarnatus est (Chorus)
05. Crucifixus (Chorus)
06. Et resurrexit (Chorus)
07. Aria. Et in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum (Bass)
08. Confiteor unum baptisma (Chorus)
09. Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum (Chorus)
10. Sanctus (Chorus)
11. Osanna in excerlsis (Chorus)
12. Aria. Benedictus (Tenor)
13. Osanna in excerlsis (Chorus da capo)
14. Aria. Agnus Dei (Alto)
15. Dona nobis pacem (Chorus)
20 years after the Orchestra of the 18th Century’s first engagement on tour with Bach’s Mass in B minor, a work which has for so long captivated the inquiring mind and interpretative insight of Frans Brüggen, a new tour was conceived through which to provide a fresh view of the piece. Setting down a recorded view during tours has always been key to this orchestra’s musical expression and last year the opportunity was taken at an exciting concert in the Polish capital of Warsaw: a city and a country with whom director and orchestra have long and treasured memories. Accompanying the CD set is a booklet essay from David Vickers which provides a scholarly and eminently-readable account of the social as well as the musical background to the composition of the individual parts of a piece whose unity has provided the world with one of its greatest works of musical art. This new recording is more than a 20th anniversary celebration, reflecting as it does Frans Brüggen’s lifelong desire to understand and project the work of J.S. Bach.
Recorded in March 2009, this is a magical, mystical, and altogether magnificent performance of Bach’s B minor Mass. Twenty years after their first appearance in Warsaw performing this work, Frans Brüggen and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century have returned to it, and the sense of occasion and affection is palpable. With sopranos Dorothee Mields and Johannette Zomer, alto Patrick van Goethem, tenor Jan Kobow, and bass Peter Kooij, and with the Cappella Amsterdam choir, Brüggen delivers a truly great B minor Mass. One could take his performance apart, pointing to his deft handling of the work’s color, textural, emotional contrasts, and discussing his lines’ clarity, his harmonies’ lucidity, and his forms’ balances. But as with any great art, Brüggen’s B minor Mass is far more than the sum of its parts, and any technical discussions would fall far short of describing the performances’ many and manifold glories. Suffice it to say that his account is both deeply human and highly spiritual, and anyone who loves the work should hear it. Recorded live in Warsaw’s Lutoslawski Radio Studio, the digital sound is big, bold, direct, and very, very vivid. For some listeners, it may be too vivid, but others may find the immediacy bracing and exciting.