Beethoven: Missa Solemnis - Eschenbach, London Philharmonic (2012)

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Beethoven: Missa Solemnis - Eschenbach, London Philharmonic (2012)

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Beethoven had little liking for organised religion, but he was deeply spiritual, believing in God as an all-powerful, loving Father. The awesome, sublime Missa Solemnis is one of his supreme achievements, which he headed ‘From the heart – may it in turn go to the heart!’ In this live concert recording, the fervour of Beethoven’s vision is powerfully realised by conductor Christoph Eschenbach with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir.

Christoph Eschenbach has a longstanding association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and this release adds to critically acclaimed recording of Bruckner Symphony No. 6 (LPO0049) released in 2011.

A prolific recording artist over five decades, Christoph Eschenbach has recorded as both a conductor and a pianist on labels including Deutsche Grammophon, Sony/BMG, Decca, Ondine, Warner and Koch. His Ondine recording of the music of Kaija Saariaho with the Orchestre de Paris and soprano Karita Mattila won the 2009 MIDEM Classical Award for Contemporary Music.

The stellar quartet of soloists includes the great lyric soprano Anne Schwanewilms, who enjoys an unparalleled reputation for her performances of Strauss and Wagner, and tenor Nikolai Schukoff who is destined to become a leading voice of his generation.

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Dietrich Henschel, Annette Jahns, Nikolai Schukoff, Anne Schwanewilms
Conductor: Christoph Eschenbach
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Chorus

Reviews: In Fanfare 34:1, in a review of a Tchaikovsky album by the Philadelphia Orchestra, I had occasion to lament the virtually forced departure of its music director, Christoph Eschenbach. Given the turbulence the orchestra has gone through since then—only yesterday, as I write, it officially emerged from bankruptcy proceedings—Eschenbach may have found his exit (and subsequent soft landing in Washington, D.C., with the National Symphony) a blessing in disguise. Be that as it may, this wonderful performance of the Missa Solemnis gives renewed occasion to consider and regret what Philadelphia has lost.


Somewhat unusually, the interpretation offered here sets contemplative devotion at its core; it partakes more of a liturgical act than a concert performance, and the audience is utterly noiseless. Eschenbach accomplishes this partly by emphasizing lyrical elements over dramatic ones, and by a balance of orchestral sound that gives somewhat greater prominence to woodwind instruments (and correspondingly less to the brass) relative to the strings than is the norm. By these means, and a similar treatment of the choir (which sings superbly throughout), Eschenbach attains an often almost chamber-music-like translucence and delicacy, despite the large forces involved. The overall results may be too soft-grained for some; but while I like a monumental, heaven-storming rendition of this work as much as anyone else, I find that in the right hands (such as Eschenbach’s) this approach also works exceedingly well. The one other performance of this piece I know that takes a similar interpretive tack and succeeds is the miraculous 1957 account with Carl Schuricht leading the Hamburg NDR Symphony, St. Hedwig’s Cathedral Choir of Berlin, and solo quartet of Maria Stader, Elsa Cavelti, Ernst Haefliger, and Heinz Rehfuss. (The Archiphon set is out of print, but it is available as an MP3 download. If you can find a copy, snap it up without delay.)


I do have a few minor reservations. The four soloists are generally quite good, if not highly distinctive. As one would expect, Anne Schwanewilms soars sweetly and without strain. Annette Jahns, a name new to me, has exactly the kind of potent alto needed for her role to have its maximum effect. I have found Dietrich Henschel to be an on-again, off-again singer, but here he is on best behavior. Nikolai Schukoff is not quite on the same level as his three colleagues; he has something of that throaty quality that I find objectionable in German tenors such as Peter Schreier and Christoph Elsner, and an occasional note does not have its vibrato quite centered. Concertmaster Pieter Schoeman plays well in the Sanctus, but does not quite achieve the sublime sweetness of repose attained by his greatest rivals. As in so many other performances, the Agnus Dei loses momentum and dramatic tension along the way, though unlike some it does not go completely belly-up and ruin the entire performance. Overall, I would still rank this among the top 10 recordings of this piece available, and place it alongside the BMG recording with Colin Davis and the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Chorus as one of the two best digital versions available.