Bach Collegium Japan, Soloists, Masaaki Suzuki - W.A. Mozart: Great Mass in C minor; Exsultate, jubilate (2016)

Period-instrument C minor Masses get better and better. The bar was set in the mid 1980s by Gardiner and Hogwood, then raised in the new millennium by the likes of McCreesh, Krivine and Langrée. This new recording from Japan, which joins Suzuki’s scholarly and startling Requiem, is fully worthy to join them. Reviewing the Requiem (1/15), I was disappointed that the acoustic and engineering blurred the inner voices, obliterating Mozart’s (or Süssmayr’s, Eybler’s or Suzuki Jnr’s) counterpoint. Here that problem is largely avoided in a similarly grand acoustic: that, and the fact that the C minor Mass is a far more vocally orientated piece than the Requiem.

The choir are well drilled and the two female soloists are matched as well as any on disc (see my Collection on the work, 6/13). Carolyn Sampson takes all the soprano solos (the ‘Laudamus’ is traditionally taken by the second soprano) and does so with the lithe coloratura, rich, silky tone and innate identification with this music familiar from her sacred Mozart collection with The King’s Consort (Hyperion, 5/06), and intertwines memorably with Olivia Vermeulen in the duet and trio of the Gloria. Suzuki is no speed merchant (a full minute slower than Langrée in the Kyrie, for example), and maintains the through line in more strenuous movements such as the ‘Qui tollis’ and the ‘Cum Sancto Spiritu’ fugue that closes the Gloria. He takes his time especially in the ‘Et incarnatus est’, its beautiful pastoral scene spun out mesmerisingly by Sampson.

The edition used of this tantalisingly incomplete work is that by Franz Beyer, published in 1989. There is nothing here to discombobulate the general listener; however, those for whom such matters are important will wish to know that there are no (editorial) trumpets in the ‘Credo’ or horns in the ‘Incarnatus’, whose new string parts are perhaps more active than those in the more usual HC Robbins Landon completion. (Beyer also contrived an Agnus Dei from the music of the Kyrie but that is not recorded here.) As the only other recording of this edition is Harnoncourt’s, whose peculiar balance between voices and instruments is a sticking point, it is worthwhile to hear Beyer’s work on this disc.

Sampson is once again the soloist in the popular Exsultate, jubilate, the treat here being a parallel recording of the opening aria in the ‘Salzburg’ version, which boasts a different text and flutes instead of oboes. As a package, the disc as a whole is certainly a winner; the Mass easily ranks alongside the period-instrument benchmarks.

Review by David Threasher, Gramophone

As he reached the end of his magisterial cycle of Bach cantatas, one might have been forgiven for asking, "Well, what's next?" for conductor Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan. With the release of a recording of Mozart's Requiem in D minor, K. 626, and now the Mass in C minor, K. 427, the answer appears to be the application of historical-performance techniques to Mozart and perhaps to other later music. Suzuki, with so much Bach on his plate, is a bit late to this game, and there are places here where his smooth, sensuous yet sober choral style from the Bach recordings makes this sound a bit like Bach. Several things make it work, however. First is the fact that much of the mass is written in the old polyphonic style and was influenced by Mozart's first serious engagement with Bach's music at the home of the aristocrat Baron van Swieten, and all the virtues of the Collegium's performances apply in the big choruses. Sample the Wall of Sound effect in the double-choir "Qui tollis peccata mundi," and note throughout the way the levels of size in the mass are handled intelligently. Second, Suzuki has always chosen effective soloists, and he scores in a big way here with soprano Carolyn Sampson, who delivers a thrilling Exsultate, Jubilate, K. 165, to bring down the curtain, throwing in a rarely heard alternate version to boot. Finally, Suzuki performs a 1989 partial completion of the mass by German scholar Franz Beyer. This version fills out the sections that Mozart partially completed, including the "Incarnatus "(gorgeous here under Sampson's control), without making grand new statements, and it's probably the most preferable approach, available up to now with historical instruments only in an unorthodox version by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The unusual tempos that appeared in Suzuki's Requiem are absent here, and the bottom line is that if you're OK with Mozart that sounds a bit like Bach at times, you'll find this a satisfying rendition of the "Great" C minor mass.

Review by James Manheim, Allmusic.com

Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

EAC extraction logfile from 19. February 2017, 0:01

Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki / Mozart - Mass in C minor; Exsultate, jubilate

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foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-03-01 01:29:40

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Analyzed: Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki / Mozart - Mass in C minor; Exsultate, jubilate
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR12 -0.36 dB -17.86 dB 7:36 01-Mass in C minor, K427 - Kyrie eleison
DR12 -0.35 dB -16.08 dB 2:23 02-Mass in C minor, K427 - Gloria in excelsis Deo
DR12 -3.40 dB -19.62 dB 4:35 03-Mass in C minor, K427 - Laudamus te
DR11 -2.13 dB -15.46 dB 1:21 04-Mass in C minor, K427 - Gratias agimus tibi
DR11 -1.15 dB -17.44 dB 2:39 05-Mass in C minor, K427 - Domine Deus
DR10 -0.35 dB -15.20 dB 5:36 06-Mass in C minor, K427 - Qui tollis peccata mundi
DR12 -1.68 dB -16.97 dB 3:32 07-Mass in C minor, K427 - Quoniam tu solus sanctus
DR10 -0.37 dB -12.45 dB 0:40 08-Mass in C minor, K427 - Jesu Christe
DR11 -0.34 dB -14.14 dB 3:36 09-Mass in C minor, K427 - Cum Sancto Spiritu
DR11 -0.37 dB -15.14 dB 3:27 10-Mass in C minor, K427 - Credo in unum Deum
DR12 -1.87 dB -19.95 dB 8:15 11-Mass in C minor, K427 - Et incarnatus est
DR10 -0.34 dB -13.60 dB 3:36 12-Mass in C minor, K427 - Sanctus - Hosanna
DR12 -0.35 dB -16.83 dB 5:12 13-Mass in C minor, K427 - Benedictus - Hosanna
DR13 -1.98 dB -19.15 dB 4:22 14-Exsultate, jubilate, K165 - I. Exsultate, jubilate
DR13 -6.71 dB -23.79 dB 0:46 15-Exsultate, jubilate, K165 - II. Fulget amica dies
DR12 -4.30 dB -21.07 dB 6:15 16-Exsultate, jubilate, K165 - III. Tu virginum corona
DR12 -0.34 dB -17.51 dB 2:32 17-Exsultate, jubilate, K165 - IV. Alleluja
DR14 -1.80 dB -20.17 dB 4:55 18-Aria: Exsultate, jubilate
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Number of tracks: 18
Official DR value: DR12

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 684 kbps
Codec: FLAC
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