Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
Right out of the box, this must be considered one of the finer accounts of the B minor Mass currently available on disc, and at Telarc's two-for-one pricing, it's one of the most affordable as well. Recorded in May 1999 at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts, it features a well-nigh ideal complement of musicians--a chorus of 28 and an orchestra of 31--in an acoustically excellent setting, under the direction of one of America's foremost baroque specialists, Martin Pearlman. Fluent, engaging, informed, and insightful, the performance is proof that North American period-instrument playing has come of age. In fact, the playing of the Boston Baroque ensemble is the chief glory of this account. Individually and collectively an outstanding group of instrumentalists, they deliver the obbligato solos with impeccable flair across the board, while their tutti playing is agile yet substantial in sound. The Boston Baroque choristers are not quite up to the level of their colleagues; in places, their singing lacks the ultimate degree of polish and projection, though it is unfailingly animated and communicative: witness the beautiful job they do with 'Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum' and the final 'Dona nobis pacem.' There is much good work from the soloists as well, though a couple of them phrase their numbers rather choppily and could show more expressive finesse. Telarc's recording is spacious and atmospheric, yet dry enough to be nicely detailed. There are also good notes from conductor Pearlman, who with this release further solidifies his reputation as an interpreter of Bach. --Ted Libbey









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Disc 1:

1. Kyrie Eleison
2. Christe Eleison
3. Kyrie Eleison
4. Gloria In Excelsis Deo
5. Et In Terra Pax
6. Laudamus tae
7. Gratias Agimus Tibi
8. Domine Deus
9. Qui Tollis Peccata Mundi
10. Qui Sedes Ad Dextram Patris
11. Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus
12. Cum Sancto Spiritu

Disc 2:

1. Credo In Unum Deum
2. Patrem Omnipotentem
3. Et In Unum Dominum
4. Et Incarnatus Est
5. Crucifixus
6. Et Resurrexit
7. Et In Spiritum Sanctum
8. Confiteor
9. Et Exspecto
10. Sanctus
11. Osanna In Excelsis
12. Benedictus
13. Osanna In Excelsis
14. Agnus Dei
15. Dona Nobis Pacem

Rating: - Not Good Enough
This recording pales in comparison to Gardiner's magnificent percormance. The sound is muddy, the instrumental playing dull and blurry, and the choir lacking in attack and verve. Forget about it. (I bought it because I was so impressed with this group's work with the Mozart Requiem, which I still enjoy every much.)

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Rating: - one of the best interpretations available, but second to Gardiner's classic reading
Gardiner's classic reading with the English Baroque Soloists is the unavoidable point of comparison for any period instrument reading of the Bach B Minor Mass, and Pearlman and the Boston Baroque measure up admirably to Gardiner's definitive account. Where Gardiner's is an exuberant, dramatic performance, Pearlman's interpretation finds instead a sense of contented calm, a spiritual inner peace. There is less edge-of-your seat euphoria, and more of a joyful, peaceful glow from within. (This is particularly true in the Kyrie and Gloria sections; Pearlman's reading is more animated and dramatic in the Credo---thus it seemed to me that for Pearlman, the Credo is the piece's center of gravity.) True enough, Gardiner's is the greater reading (indeed, it is one of history's greatest performances of any repertoire), but Pearlman's remains a performance of the first order.

For Pearlman this is more a choral piece than an orchestral piece. The voices outbalance the instruments almost two to one much of the time, where for Gardiner the balance favors the orchestra, often to the same extent. Though it's interesting to note that other reviewers here do not agree with me about this. I suppose that in a huge score such as this, as is often commented with regard to different interpretations of the Mahler symphonies, there are almost endless possible choices of textural emphasis; perhaps everyone has their favorite orchestral passages in this piece, and will find the orchestra overbalanced if those are not the orchestral passages that are emphasized. I must admit that I missed the instruments in places. I am a trumpet player myself, and was especially interested to hear the Boston Baroque's first trumpeter, Friedemann Immer, play the first trumpet parts here. Together with Crispian Steele-Perkins and Niklas Eklund, Immer is amongst the world's elite exponents of the valveless Baroque trumpet, and has recorded the best performance of the Bach 2nd Brandenburg Concerto we have. But he is generally kept well in the background here, even in extended, important solo trumpet passages, such as in Credo in unum Deum.

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Rating: - This recording is very over-hyped.
I have long been searching for a new recording of the Bach Mass. After giving this a spin, I was very disappointed. The chorus is nearly non-existant. I do not know if this is a recording balance problem or a musical problem. But this IS a choral work. One wants the chorus to have some presence. You will not find it in this recording. At times the nattering of inner woodwind parts is given more weight in the mix than the chorus. The result is that at times the chorus is more of an obligato than is is the primary focus (as it should be).

If you are searching for a fine recording of Sebastian Bach's masterpiece, then this isn't it.

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Rating: - Great buy, good performance, a bit oddly recorded
This is a very good performance of this great work. It is not as transcendent as others, but seems more about energy and vitality than plumbing the depths of spiritual feeling. The soloists are all excellent, the conducting keeps things moving along, and this recording is at its very best in the movements such as the Gloria and even the Credo. The approach Pearlman takes in the first Kyrie lets you know that this is not going to be Klemperer, Gardiner, or especially not Herrewhege (whose approach, though beautiful, I find, finally, too soft).

The only problem I have with the disk is, I think, in the way it was miked. It is just strange at times how an individual voice in the small choir will pop out, yet the entire bass section is often less present than a cello doubling them. The voices all sound young, but a conductor would understand that and work out the balance by asking them to sing out.

The soaring trumpet in the final Donna Nobis (and its earlier statement) is powerful, but across the room and the tympani sound like they are kind of off stage. We hear their boom, but do not hear the articulation clearly. Given the fine ensemble of the group and the apparent skill of the conductor, it is hard from me to blame him in not knowing how to balance the group. Did they have a recording engineer who was unfamiliar with the work?

Anyway, it doesn't sound BAD, just not as clear or as powerful as one would like. However, for the price, it is a very good buy.

The orchestra is very good and is easy to hear throughout.

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Rating: - Magnificent, truly Magnificent
I own over 200 CDs of everything from Palestrina and Pope Gregory, to Mahler, Widor, Dupre, and Vaughan Williams, and I have to say this is the ultimate recording in my collection. Maestro Pearlman was reading Bach's mind on this one...It is, I believe, how Mr. Bach would have wanted it. Thank you Maestro Pearlman, thank you.