Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Andrew Parrott, Taverner Consort Choir & Players :: Bach: Mass in B minor

One of Three Great Choices

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 05/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No performance of Bach's B minor Mass could ever be totally dull, but the recording by Harry Christophers and the Sixteen, which is included in the Brilliant Classics Complete Bach Box, comes close. I listened to part of it last night, and decided to search through other versions in my collection to find the best! A foolish idea, of course, but I dug up the original release on vinyl of Parrott's offering, with the divine Emma Kirkby singing soprano. The "shtick" for that performance was the decision to sing everything, choruses included, one on a part. There were outcries of delight and despair at the time. Hearing it again, after some years, I'd say it sounds amazingly vibrant and musical, with the soprano-alto duets surpassing those of any subsequent performance. I like it so well that I'd buying this re-released CD version immediately.



The "best" is elusive. John Eliot Gardiner's recording of 1990 has by far the most thrilling instrumental passages, and the most emotive overall interpretation. Philippe Herreweghe's more orotund choral sound and instrumental stateliness is wonderful, also. Those are the only three choices worth considering: Parrott, Gardiner, and Herreweghe. A real Bachophile will need to have all three.



Whoa! Same day, afterthought. I forgot the excellent and quite distinct performance conducted by Ton Koopman, who takes the slow and mournful movements more poignantly than anyone else. If a crucified and resurrected B minor is what you crave, then Koopman is your best choice.



Oy! Next day: I've been justly chided for haste in declaring only three recordings worthy of interest. Aside from those three, there are also fine performances by Koopman (noted above), Suzuki, and Leonhardt. I'm also assured that the Van Veldhoven performance is excellent, but I haven't heard it. In short, an embarrassment fo riches."

The best of the best

Le Frisson | England | 01/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Parrott and Rifkin's approaches, based on the theory of 'one singer per part', cultivate a different kind of taste in Baroque music. People who are used to large choirs might find their versions significantly lacking in grandeur and power at the first listening. But as I said, it's an acquired taste, and once the penetrating clarity of a smaller choir starts to set in, you'll find a completely different Bach, clean, crisp and full of vigour. A perfect antidote to those so called 'interpretations' and mawkish romanticism imposed on the true Baroque. Highly recommended."

Truly Human

Derek Lee | St. Paul, MN USA | 12/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Those who have read my previous reviews of baroque music might be very surprised that I'm enthusiastic about this release, as I have always leaned toward grand scale in these works, but as I get older (and hopefully wiser), I realise there are many convincing ways of performing these works. In particular, just because there is only one voice per part here doesn't mean that it is lacking something. I now feel it is possible to bring out Bach's cosmic vision with any size ensemble, what matters is that the performers (in particular the conductor) share Bach's vision, as Parrot clearly does here. What changed opened my mind about the performance of Bach's sacred works was realising that ensemble size does not make grandeur, but rather the size should correspond to the intimacy or lack thereof of the acoustic. An ensemble of this size in, say, Carnegie hall in summer would sound totally lackluster, because the acoustics would be insufficiently rich, whereas in the small, cold, highly resonant spaces that Bach performed in, one voice per part can sound totally appropriate. No matter what size group is used however, the performance will be lacking unless there is vision, and the artists here clearly posess it. The tempi and dynamics are very well judged, always natural and inherently musical, never sound like some artificial excercise. Comparing with Gardiner's contemporary release is very revealing, as I find the way Gardiner approaches this music to be completely stiff and mechanical, lacking totally in humanity. Ultimately what matters most of all is that the performance be a human one, and this certainly is."