Search - Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Andrew Manze :: Biber: Missa Christi resurgentis [Hybrid SACD]

Andrew Manze does it again!

MBA_Overlord | New York, NY United States | 01/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Andrew Manze does it again! This wonderful recording features the first recorded performance of the previously lost Missa Christi Resurgentis. Apparently the piece has lain dormant for the last three hundred years and was only rediscovered recently in a Czech monestary.



The piece takes a departure from the typical Easter mass in that Biber inserts beautiful solo interludes between the liturgical choral parts of the mass. Manze deftly balances the piece's choral climaxes with these solo transitions giving the entire piece a feeling of integrity that might have been lacking in a less comprehensive treatment of the piece.



Manze's interpretation is heart-felt and brisk. No sleepy, by-the-numbers baroque here! The actual recording is warm and dynamic in the best manner. Highly recommended for anyone looking to expand his or her musical horizons."

What a Difference SACD Makes!

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 12/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I wrote the following review of the non-SACD recording a while ago:



"This disk is frustrating. Half of it is superb, but half is nearly unbearable. It starts well enough, with a stunning trumpet fanfare, a piece of real music played gloriously. The trumpeters play with aplomb throughout, by the way, something not entirely expected from English trumpeters. The second track is a small masterpiece, a sonata , played and recorded excellently. Trouble strikes when the choirs begin the Kyrie. Choirs must be fiendishly hard to record, since so many of the big Biber masses available suffer from a harsh car-radio quality of sound from the voices. In this case, the seven instrumental sonatas are a joy to listen to, crisp and realistic in timbre, while all the choral movements sound as if they were recorded by telephone."



Dissatisfied as I was, I ordered the SACD version just to compare, and WOW! what a difference. Every sound is clearer, the separation of choirs is splendid, even the tuning problems that seemed regent in the regular recording seem now to have vanished. As you'll note, I've raised my rating from 4 to 5 stars!!!



Biber's chamber music is quickly becoming standard repertoire for Baroque ensembles. It's sonorous, complex, virtuosic, and fresh to our ears partly because it's NEW, having been neglected for so long. This disk also includes a Schmelzer sonata of high musical quality. One of the reasons why Manze's English Consort sounds so elegant on this disk is that the instruments are tuned authentically 1/6 comma meantone, instead of the modern equal temperament. The result is dramatic purity of tuning in moments of consonance and piquancy of tuning in suspensions and chromaticisms. Even if you know nothing about matters of temperament, your ears will hear the difference.



With proper separation of channels, the vocal coarseness that I heard on the regular CD vanishes. Poof! It's a marvel. I plan to play this SACD daily for about a decade, it's that exciting."

IGNORE THE AMAZON NOTE ABOVE

Hannibal | Los Angeles, CA USA | 11/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"DO NOT BE PUT OFF OR BE DISSUADED BY THE INCORRECT NOTE ABOVE. - THIS CD DOES NOT REQUIRE SACD COMPATIBLE HARDWARE TO BE PLAYED! - IT PLAYS MAGNIFICENTLY ON ANY OLD CD PLAYER THAT YOU MAY HAVE - THAT IS WHY IT IS CALLED A "HYBRID" SACD. - Obviously, when you get around to acquiring a SACD player in the future you will enjoy it even more, but until then, you'll be more than delighted."