Muti: Cherubini – Missa solemnis in E (FLAC)

Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Riccardo Muti
Composer: Luigi Cherubini
Audio CD
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (image+cue)
Label: EMI Classics
Size: 191 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

01. Kyrie
02. Gloria
03. Credo
04. Sanctus
05. Communio O salutaris hostia
06. Agnus Dei
Ruth Ziesak (soprano)
Marianna Pizzolato (mezzo-soprano)
Herbert Lippert (tenor)
Ildar Abdrazakov (bass)

07. Antifona sul canto fermo 8. tono
08. Nemo gaudeat
Barbara Fleckenstein (soprano)
Barbara Muller (alto)
Bernhard Schneider (tenor)
Andrew Meyer (tenor)
Christoph Hartkopf (bass)
Harald Feller (organ)
Max Hanft (organ)

Chor des Bayerschen Rundfunks
Peter Dijkstra

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Riccardo Muti

Exposing Cherubini’s Sacred Side

The Italian composer Luigi Cherubini, whose life spanned from 1760 to 1842, was largely known in his time for operas like “Anacreon” and “Medea”, all of which seemed to fit in rather well with those operas of such contemporaries as Mozart and Beethoven (the latter of whom revered Cherubini). So it is really only in recent decades that Cherubini’s sacred music has gained a place in the classical repertoire.

With a recording like this, however, one really has to wonder why that is the case. Helped out by a fine quartet of vocal soloists (Ruth Ziesak; Marianna Pizzolato; Herbert Lippert; Ildar Abdrazakov), Riccardo Muti leads the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus through Cherubini’s 1815 composition, the Missa Solemnis In E, a sacred work of considerable grace and solemnity (its key varies between E Major and E Minor throughout its 40-minute running time) that harkens back to Mozart’s most popular sacred works (the Great C Minor Mass, and the Requiem) and forward to Beethoven’s own Missa Solemnis in D Major. This recording is balanced out by two very poignant motets (“Antifona Sul Canot Fermo Tona”; “Nemo Gaudeat”), in which members of the Bavarian Radio Chorus are joined by organists Harald Feller and Max Hanft.

This recording, which has been nominated for a number of Grammys in the Classical Category, should give further exposure to this late Classical/early Romantic Italian composer’s liturgical output. With a great orchestra/chorus combination led by a fine conductor, one hopes that will truly be the case.