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The first publisher of Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Hans Georg Nägeli, called it the “greatest musical work of art of all times and peoples”. Assembled from a variety of sources, eclectic in its styles and origins, the Mass adds up to a strangely unified whole and is one of the masterpieces of the Baroque.
Getting to the heart of it promises untold years of discovery. For Raphaël Pichon and his early music group Pygmalion the journey began back in 2013 and this new recording has been a labour of love, maturing over a decade of performances.
Pygmalion’s choir and instrumentalists are expert in the Baroque style (not to mention their recordings of later music, which have taken them as far as Wagner). Pichon always has something personal and imaginative to say and his take on the Mass in B Minor is no exception.
The result is hyper-emotional. Speeds tend to be at the extremes, the second “Kyrie eleison” slow with devotional awe, the ensuing “Gloria” headlong in its enthusiasm. A tear-laden “Et incarnatus est” leads to an urgent “Crucifixus” of violent accents, nails being hammered into the cross. Everything is vivid and deeply felt, but simpler performances may speak to the listener more naturally.
The movements featuring the solo singers are fine without exception, exquisitely accompanied and well sung. Julie Roset is the pure-voiced soprano; noble Beth Taylor and harder-toned, but authoritative Lucile Richardot share the mezzo and alto solos; and the expressive Emiliano Gonzalez Toro and Christian Immler are the tenor and baritone.
★★★☆☆
‘Bach: Mass in B Minor’ is released by Harmonia Mundi
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