Recommend Recordings

[markof]

Happy New Year to everyone here.

I'm looking for recommended recordings of the Missa Solemnis by Beethoven and Bach's Magnificat.

Thanks for the help
Mark.

[Seán]

Happy New Year Mark, I can, without hesitation, recommend the following Bach recordings, they really are magnificent and very different:



and



I also have the Rilling and Suzuki recordings but neither can hold a candle to the Herreweghe and Gardiner recordings in my very humble opinion.

[fergus]

Hi Mark, I would agree with Seán regarding the Herreweghe and Gardiner but I would put the Gardiner first as it carries more punch.

If you are new to this music and want to dip your toe into the water I can recommend another CD that is also coupled with the wonderful Vivaldi Gloria....





These are not absolutely top drawer performances but they are very acceptable and the CD is selling for £0.01 + p+p on Amazon UK at the moment if you want to investigate this music very cheaply.

[fergus]

In relation to Beethoven's Missa Solemnis my top recommendations would be Gardiner (on the Archiv Produktion label - I do not have his new recording on SDG yet), Levine (Deutsche Grammophon) and Klemperer (on EMI). Some people like the Herreweghe (on Harmonia Mundi) but for me the others carry more weight which is important in this work.

[Jose Echenique]

In relation to Beethoven's Missa Solemnis my top recommendations would be Gardiner (on the Archiv Produktion label - I do not have his new recording on SDG yet), Levine (Deutsche Grammophon) and Klemperer (on EMI). Some people like the Herreweghe (on Harmonia Mundi) but for me the others carry more weight which is important in this work.

The SDG recording is vastly superior to the Archiv dear Fergus, and let me add the really excellent David Zinman version, which is very inexpensive too.

[mcq]

The more I hear it, the more strongly I feel that Missa Solemnis is Beethoven's greatest achievement, and, in a truly great performance, utterly overwheming in its cumulative spiritual force.  It also remains his most difficult work to interpret.  To my ears, Gardiner's and Herreweghe's respective versions are the most powerful interpretations, closely followed by Harnoncourt's first version with the COE (I have not yet seen his most recent version with the Concertgebouw, available on DVD, which has received some outstanding reviews) and Rafael Kubelik's version with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on the Orfeo label.  I'm also very fond of Karajan's version from the  1979 Salzburg Festival, available on a DG DVD.  

My personal preference, however, is for either of Herreweghe's versions.  He instils an extraordinary sense of compassion and empathy into his performances of this masterpiece.  After rage and terror comes blind incomprehension followed, finally, by mute acceptance of one's fate and a simple resignation to God's will.  That is what is communicated so very strongly in Herreweghe's versions.

[markof]

Thanks to all the contributors.

I have the Gardiner and Herreweghe versions of both works in my spotify playlist and am trying to decide which performances I prefer; both are lovely and it may be proper to get both if funds allow.
The new Gardiner recording of the Missa Solemnis is there too along with the Klemperer recording but unfortunately not the Zinman. I am also listening to the Harnoncourt Magnificat/Te Deum (Handel) as a comparison.

Will report back on my final decision.

Again, many thanks.

Mark.

[Seán]

You can buy a used copy of Gardiner's Magnificat for less than fifty pence on amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listin ... ition=used and a copy of Herreweghe's cd for less than than ten pounds too: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listin ... dition=new

Happy shopping.

[fergus]

Hi Mark. It is great that you can listen to the different interpretations because one's taste in this regard is so personal and subjective. I would be interested to know why you choose your eventual purchase.
BTW I do have the Zinman version of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and I also find it impressive. It can be bought for very little money on Amazon UK at the moment: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listin ... dition=all

[Jose Echenique]

Hi Mark. It is great that you can listen to the different interpretations because one's taste in this regard is so personal and subjective. I would be interested to know why you choose your eventual purchase.
BTW I do have the Zinman version of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and I also find it impressive. It can be bought for very little money on Amazon UK at the moment: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listin ... dition=all

The Zinman has a finer vocal quartet than the various Herreweghe/Gardiner versions, and that counts a lot since they carry a lot of weight in the work. Gardiner 2 has the finest choir of all and that also, of course, is very important. But I have a soft spot for Herreweghe 1, it´s a noble and very musical interpretation, beautifully recorded in the Metz Arsenal.