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Reviewer: J.
F. Weber They’ve done it again. After sending colleague George Chien two of these Lutheran Masses conducted by Harry Christophers, I got the other two for review a little later (Fanfare 39:3 and 39:5). Now George has reviewed two of the same Masses conducted by Masaaki Suzuki (39:4) and I got the other two. Since the couplings are different, neither of us has all four Masses (not among these four discs anyway), and all of this happened in the course of four consecutive issues of Fanfare. There is a lot of similarity between the performances led by Christophers and Suzuki, and some degree of difference, too. Christophers uses eight singers, two to a part, while Suzuki has 24 singers; their instrumental forces, numbering 22 to 24 players, are essentially the same. The result is a far lighter, airier performance from the smaller group. The overall effect of both performances otherwise matches the current HIP standard of Bach performance. All of the vocal soloists are above the current level of excellence. Suzuki has a mix of European and Japanese singers, as is normal in his ensemble, and Robin Blaze is the alto soloist in both groups. Suzuki’s singers include tenor Gerd Türk and bass Peter Kooij, familiar names from many Continental recordings of Baroque music. The only direct comparison I have is Paul McCreesh’s BWV 233 (23:4), part of a liturgical reconstruction for Epiphany that runs (in his usual manner of a few years ago) to two 80-minute discs, one of the most elaborate of his programs in the Archiv series. He uses 10 singers and the same complement of players as the other two versions, all equal to the high standard on display here. McCreesh is virtually non-competitive: One of these Masses in a two-disc box is about the same price as either of these complete sets of four Masses. Given the coupling problem, one is not likely to split the difference between Suzuki and Christophers, one of each, so the choice is between two very fine sets of Masses, judging Suzuki’s notably bigger sound against Christophers’s smaller vocal group. The tempos are not significantly different. Marco Giuseppe Peranda (1625–1675), the composer of the third Missa brevis on this disc, is the real news on this disc. He appeared here once before (35:5) in an Amarcord program devoted to composers who figured in the life of Schütz. Serving with him at the Dresden court, Peranda succeeded him as court Kapellmeister at his death, but died only three years later. There is an interesting reason for adding his Mass to this disc. Bach copied it himself when he was in Weimar and even performed it in his later years in Leipzig. Bach modified the scoring, but the original version is used here. The Gloria of this Mass ends with quite exquisite counterpoint on four themes in the six-voice texture. This virtuosity was already apparent in his “Fasciculus myrrhae” for double chorus and five soloists also heard on the Amarcord CD. As fillers go, this is an admirably suitable and unusually interesting way of ensuring full value. The Christophers disc cited above throws in a Bach cantata, good value but not equal to the special interest of this unfamiliar composer’s work. It will tip the scales for the more adventurous collector. | |
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