Commentaire du vendeur :
Mozart: Coronation Mass, Missa Brevis / Nethsingha, Gritton, Challenger, St. John's College Choir
Release Date: 03/27/2012
Label: Chandos Catalog #: 786 Spars Code: DDD
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Susan Gritton, Frances Bourne, Sam Furness, George Humphreys, ...
Conductor: Andrew Nethsingha
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cambridge St. John's College Choir, St John's Sinfonia
Number of Discs: 1
Recorded in: Stereo
EAN: 0095115078624
Works on This Recording
1. Mass in C major, K 317 "Coronation" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Susan Gritton (Soprano), Frances Bourne (Mezzo Soprano), Sam Furness (Tenor),
George Humphreys (Baritone)
Conductor: Andrew Nethsingha
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cambridge St. John's College Choir, St John's Sinfonia
Period: Classical
Written: 1779; Salzburg, Austria
2. Church Sonata for Organ and Strings no 1 in E flat major, K 67 (41h): Andantino by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Andrew Skidmore (Cello), Margaret Faultless (Violin), John Challenger (Organ),
Simon Jones (Violin), Kate Aldridge (Double Bass)
Period: Classical
Written: 1772; Salzburg, Austria
3. Ave verum corpus in D major, K 618: Adagio by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Andrew Nethsingha
Orchestra/Ensemble: St John's Sinfonia
Period: Classical
Written: 1791; Austria
4. Missa brevis in F major, K 192 (186f) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Susan Gritton (Soprano), Frances Bourne (Mezzo Soprano), Sam Furness (Tenor),
George Humphreys (Baritone)
Conductor: Andrew Nethsingha
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cambridge St. John's College Choir, St John's Sinfonia
Period: Classical
Written: 1774; Salzburg, Austria
5. Church Sonata for Organ and Strings no 7 in F major, K 224 (241a): Allegro con spirito by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Andrew Skidmore (Cello), Margaret Faultless (Violin), John Challenger (Organ),
Simon Jones (Violin), Kate Aldridge (Double Bass)
6. Exsultate jubilate, K 165 (158a) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Susan Gritton (Soprano)
Conductor: Andrew Nethsingha
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cambridge St. John's College Choir, St John's Sinfonia
Period: Classical
Written: 1773; Milan, Italy
Notes and Editorial Reviews
There are many fine recordings of the Coronation Mass, but this new Chandos release stands out for a number of reasons: the inclusion of two of the Church sonatas which were written for the purpose of inclusion in the liturgy, the existence of both 16 and 24 bit lossless downloads, the provision of texts and translations, and the couplings which contribute to the generous playing time. That puts it ahead in terms of playing time of the Winchester/Christopher Hogwood version on Decca 4365852 which I recommended in the January 2010 Roundup and rivalled only by Peter Schreier's excellent Philips coupling of the Requiem and Coronation Masses.
Schreier gives us two masterpieces in excellent performances, still sounding very well on CD – I can't vouch for the download but the CD remains my version of choice for the Requiem in particular. If that's the combination that you want, it's unbeatable. The Decca recording is also strongly recommended, not least for the team of soloists, especially Emma Kirkby, and the Vesperæ de Confessore coupling is well worth having.
The new Chandos recording is, thus, up against strong competition. The couplings for the Coronation Mass include two short masterpieces, Ave verum corpus and Exsultate, jubilate, but the Missa brevis is a run of the mill example of the short settings that Mozart had to compose for Archbishop Colloredo, who liked to get off hunting after Mass. It is, as Jeremy Summerly's Chandos notes state, remarkably tight, but I can't summon much enthusiasm for it.
Susan Gritton is in competition with Emma Kirkby in the Coronation Mass and Exsultate. Heard one straight after the other in the latter work, I have to award the palm to Ms Kirkby and the unassailable beauty of her tone. (With Westminster Cathedral Choir, the Academy of Ancient Music and Christopher Hogwood, Decca Oiseau Lyre 4118332. Also on Eloquence CD 4767460. Be aware, however, that the playing times of the two Kirkby/Hogwood recordings are very short: that including Exsultate runs to just over 47 minutes. Put that Decca recording out of mind and the new Chandos ranks very high.
If I seem to have been praising the new recording with faint damns, let me end by extolling its virtues – it's only by comparison with Kirkby and Hogwood, both of whom stand almost infallible in my esteem in anything that they touch, that I failed to make this my Download of the Month. It has a great deal going for it – fine solo singing, a choral contribution from a choir to challenge the best that Oxford and Cambridge have to offer, with a director who has improved even on his predecessor, a fine period-instrument accompaniment, excellent recording in a variety of formats – I listened to the 16/44.1 version – and a first-class booklet and this should be a best-seller.
I even award some points in favour of the new recording – the beautiful Agnus Dei, so reminiscent of the Countess's aria Voi che sapete in Figaro, sounds less drawn out than by Hogwood, though they take almost exactly the same time on paper; the tempo transition at around 4 minutes is more naturally handled, and the Gritton sings Agnus in the Italian manner, where Kirkby employs the hard g of her classical Latin training – yes, I was taught to pronounce it that way, too, and they probably used the Germanic hard g in Austria in Mozart's time, but I persist in disliking it.
- Brian Wilson, MusicWeb International (Review of the download version.)
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AllMusic Review by James Manheim [-]
There are many recommendable aspects to this period-instrument, all-male recording of Mozart's Mass in C major, K. 317 ("Coronation"), and Missa Brevis, K. 192. First is the deployment of the mass sections themselves. It is often pointed out that the sections of a Classical-era mass are not like the movements of a symphony; Mozart wrote these pieces for use in Salzburg's ecclesiastical establishment, and they would have been performed with liturgy and other music in between the individual sections. As conductor Andrew Nethsingha points out, the joyous explosions of sound at the beginnings of the sections of the "Coronation" Mass especially lose their proper impact when preceded by movement finales at roughly the same pitch of intensity. Yet simply performing the work as part of a full Catholic mass doesn't quite put it across either (although there are occasional performances and recording that do just that). Nethsingha opts for a compromise that may not be historically authentic, but is musically very effective: he interpolates Mozart's youthful church sonatas (descendants of the Baroque sonata da chiesa) between the Gloria and Credo, and again between the Credo and Sanctus. This keeps the momentum going without losing the impact of these two large movements. And what momentum there is! Soprano Susan Gritton leads a set of top-notch soloists, with a remarkably textured performance of the sacred aria Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165, at the end of the program, and Nethsingha gets absolute clarity out of the Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge, and the St. John's Sinfonia. The sense of controlled enthusiasm in the later pages of the Credo, culminating in Mozart's non-liturgical but apparently deeply felt repetition of the words "Credo in unum Deum" (I believe in one God), has rarely been matched among the dozens of recordings of this mass on the market. Nethsingha shifts gears effectively for the Missa Brevis, a less splendid but more radical work, and for a lovely example of the motet Ave verum corpus, K. 618. Chandos engineers extract both precision and richness from the choir's home ground, the St. John's College Cathedral. For buyers wanting the "Coronation" mass with boy singers and historical instruments, this is a choice release.
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Reviews
“...The performances are all agreeably light in texture and crisp in rhythm The choral work is very good ”
Paul L Althouse – American Record Guide – July/August 2012
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“The vibrant colours of St John's Sinfonia, a London-based period-instrument ensemble, punctuate lively singing from the men and boys of the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, under the baton of Andrew Nethsingha in sacred works of Mozart Chorus and soloists bring clarity and lightness to the composer's earlier Missa Brevis, KV 192 and the small string component sounds nimble, especially in the thorny phrases of the Agnus Dei. Nethsingha highlights the harmonic shifts of the Sanctus, and each choral section brings special energy to the falling phrases of the Hosanna sections Rounding out the disc, Moxart's ever popular Ave Verum Corpus receives a stately, sonorous reading”
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Judith Malafronte – Opera News – July 2012
"...this is a very fine recording ..."
Brian Clark - Early Music Review - June 2012
"...Susan Gritton sings the Exsultate, jubilate with real commitment and panache and the recently formed St John's Sinfonia play with real spirit. There is indeed much to enjoy on this disc"
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John Sheppard - Musicweb-international.com - 12 May 2012
**** Excellent
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Marco Bizzanini – Musica magazine – May 2012
Performance **** Recording *****
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“Violinists Margaret Faultless and Simon Jones prove lively exponents of the two sonatas, with three-part continuo providing neat support. The vocal soloists, including soprano Susan Gritton skilfully match the direct intelligently shaped singing of the choir the sound throughout is solid, given a patina of warmth by the ideal acoustic resonance.”
George Hall – BBC Music magazine – Awards Issue - 2012
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Der Chor des St. John's College in Cambridge mit der Krönungsmesse und der Missa brevis KV 192, die auch als „Kleine Credo-Messe“ bekannt ist. Ihr mehrfach wiederholtes Credo-Thema verwendete Mozart später auch im Finale seiner Jupiter-Sinfonie. Susan Gritton, die die Sopranpartien in diesen Werken singt, hat hier zum ersten Mal Mozarts dramatische Solokantate „Exultate Jubilate“ aufgenommen.
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