Beethoven: Missa Solemnis

 

Boy, what to expect with the rare pairing of Sir Georg Solti leading the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra? After all, Solti did some impressive work in Vienna with their philharmonic orchestra.

Not this, that's for sure. Of course, this was late in Solti's career, released two years before his death. Everything is just bland, although the chorus ends up impressing the most. This is just another in a series of recordings including US tenor Vinson Cole which I just don't like.

I should mention, Solti has another recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis to his name, one with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from the late 70s. I haven't heard that one, but it might be fun to check out.

A review from 2020

Sir Georg Solti’s 3rd recording of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis is performed by the Berlin Philharmonic on London Records from the mid-90’s. Surprisingly, this performance is a bit light on its feet, both in texture, but also in its swift momentum. Of his three outings on record, I think this one is his least successful, his first with Chicago from the 70’s on Decca tops the list for spirituality and virtuosity in equal measure, and his second with the LPO from the 80’s on the LPO home label is a bit let down by its sound quality, but boasts better soloists than this performance.

Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis is a work of undue vocal complexity and can be played for thrills and spirituality, but shows the harmonic invention of his late-era musical mind. His writing for chorus and vocal soloists is taxing, often having the singers in the extremes of their ranges for long periods of time, and the countless fugal sections keep amateur choruses away from tackling the work.

Taken from live concerts, (I didn’t detect any audience noise), the Berlin Philharmonic sounds pretty good, if not a little lighter in texture than I am used to with them, and perhaps a little diffuse in the Philharmonie Hall. The Berlin Radio Chorus are probably the best part of the recording, although everything seems a little tempered in this recording; no one seems to be going for broke, although the singing here is excellent. The soloists are OK; I have never been a fan of Vinson Cole’s very light tenor, especially when there are some outstanding tenors in the catalog. The rest make a fine team, even if they are not a particularly cohesive quartet.

In the end, I think this performance is a little too low-key and polite, despite the fine singing and playing by its Berlin forces and generally fine sound by London Records. For fully Romantic performances, my preferences lie with Karajan on DG with an exceptional solo quartet, a more granitic Otto Klemperer now on Warner Classics, an über devotional Carlo Maria Giulini on EMI, a deliberate James Levine on DG, and an intense Raphael Kubelik on Orfeo. If you prefer the swift and breezy modern trends, John Eliot Gardiner is a bit more rugged than most on Archiv and David Zinman, at a railway-tragedy time of 66 minutes total, is quite soft-grained; my tastes don’t extend to that style, so I will stick to the others.

This Solti recording of the Missa Solemnis is not poor, but it seems to be light on intensity and spirituality, and I would certainly recommend his excellent 70’s performance with Chicago over this one, a recording that stands with those others I mentioned.

 

 

Works
Missa Solemnis in D Major, op. 123

Soloists
Júlia Várady, soprano
Iris Vermillion, mezzo-soprano
Vinson Cole, tenor
René Pape, bass

Performers
Berlin Radio Choir
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti, conductor

Label: Decca
Year: 1995
Total Timing: 77.16

 

 

 

Well folks, this one was tossed to the moat.

Life is too short to spend time with blandness, especially when there is a host of much finer choices readily available.

Who would have expected such with Solti and Berlin teaming up?

 

 

 

Find more Beethoven recordings HERE!