Bernstein: Mass
Posted by: Tam on 29 March 2005
I'm a big fan of Bernstein's mass (and, indeed, Bernstein in general) so I was interested to pick up Nagano's new recording, despite a poor (but, it turns out, accurate) review in Gramophone.
It may seem like an odd criticism, but Nagano's Mass is more religious and less spiritual. I doesn't help that the text is slightly different, and, I think, inferior in places. Most of the singers sound as though they're trying too hard, the bits that are supposed to sound as though they're ordinary people sound anything but. Perhaps the greatest difficulty lies with Hadley's Celebrant (the central, priest-like figure) who always seems to be annunciating that bit too much: the 'simple song' sounds horribly complicated.
There are some plusses: the fidelity of the recording is clearly much greater than was Bernstein's 1970s account and as a result some of the passages have greater power. But overall this is a disappointment. One of the great strengths of the original was that it was often highly subversive and, while a very spiritual work, didn't seem very heavily religious. It's interesting the extent to which a different interpretation can alter this (and as such, genuine Bernstein fans, such as myself, will surely want to hear this), but it is sadly little more than interesting. So if you only own one recording of Mass (and you certainly should) own the Bernstein.
Anyone else heard it?
regards,
Tam
It may seem like an odd criticism, but Nagano's Mass is more religious and less spiritual. I doesn't help that the text is slightly different, and, I think, inferior in places. Most of the singers sound as though they're trying too hard, the bits that are supposed to sound as though they're ordinary people sound anything but. Perhaps the greatest difficulty lies with Hadley's Celebrant (the central, priest-like figure) who always seems to be annunciating that bit too much: the 'simple song' sounds horribly complicated.
There are some plusses: the fidelity of the recording is clearly much greater than was Bernstein's 1970s account and as a result some of the passages have greater power. But overall this is a disappointment. One of the great strengths of the original was that it was often highly subversive and, while a very spiritual work, didn't seem very heavily religious. It's interesting the extent to which a different interpretation can alter this (and as such, genuine Bernstein fans, such as myself, will surely want to hear this), but it is sadly little more than interesting. So if you only own one recording of Mass (and you certainly should) own the Bernstein.
Anyone else heard it?
regards,
Tam
Well, last night I went to the Barbican (for the first time in forever) and heard Marin Alsop conduct the work with the LSO. (And it served to confirm for me just how good a conductor Alsop is. I've only seen her with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra before, who, while perfectly competent, are in no danger of being great. But her control over the LSO was excellent and she got some wonderful sounds out of them.)
Anyway, it was absolutely the fascinating and I think the one thing that you could never get from the recording is the sense of just quite how staged the whole thing is (with marching bands wandering through the auditorium at one point), so I'm very glad to have seen it. The orchestral playing was outstandingly good though for me the singers weren't all quite up to it. Sykes, in particular, struggled a little as the Celebrant, but then it is a terribly demanding role. He also suffered from what I mentioned in my review of Nagano's, the simple song wasn't.
Another interesting point (given this is a hi-fi forum) was the sound that, as in the original performance back in '71 was played back using a p.a., interestingly, they're still using the same recordings, though it's now, apparently on a cd. This is meant to be quadraphonic, though in the barbican it sounds a little more monophonic (they could have used a better recording and a good naim system
.
Overall, though, it was something of a sight to see (even if the family sitting in front of me was unable to shut up :O ). The whole thing was recorded and will be broadcast on Sunday, so should make an interesting listen.
regards,
Tam
Anyway, it was absolutely the fascinating and I think the one thing that you could never get from the recording is the sense of just quite how staged the whole thing is (with marching bands wandering through the auditorium at one point), so I'm very glad to have seen it. The orchestral playing was outstandingly good though for me the singers weren't all quite up to it. Sykes, in particular, struggled a little as the Celebrant, but then it is a terribly demanding role. He also suffered from what I mentioned in my review of Nagano's, the simple song wasn't.
Another interesting point (given this is a hi-fi forum) was the sound that, as in the original performance back in '71 was played back using a p.a., interestingly, they're still using the same recordings, though it's now, apparently on a cd. This is meant to be quadraphonic, though in the barbican it sounds a little more monophonic (they could have used a better recording and a good naim system
.Overall, though, it was something of a sight to see (even if the family sitting in front of me was unable to shut up :O ). The whole thing was recorded and will be broadcast on Sunday, so should make an interesting listen.
regards,
Tam