Anton BRUCKNER
Mass No.2 in E Minor, Mass in C Minor
O du liebes Jesu Kind, In jener letzten der
Nachte
Ludmilla Kuznetzova (Mezzo),
Ludmilla Golub (organ)
Russian State Symphonic Capella and Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Valeri
Polyansky
Chandos CHAN 9863
[59.09]
Crotchet
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The Mass in C major was Bruckner's first of seven and is minimalist in being
scored for only an alto supported by two horns and an organ: the only forces
available to the seventeen-year-old schoolmaster-organist at the time. Ludmilla
Kuznetzova, placed well forward in the large acoustic of the Grand Hall of
Moscow Conservatory, has a rich and distinctive timbre and she responds with
deep feeling to the Latin text, though some may find her Slavic pronunciation
a little disconcerting.
The main work is the Mass No.2 in E Minor. Wind and brass accompany the chorus,
which in this recording emerges smooth and mellow under Polyansky's expert
direction. Not least in the short Sanctus which Robert Simpson has
called "perhaps the finest single movement in the whole of Bruckner's early
maturity". Here Palestrina's influence is at its strongest in being based
on a line from his 1570 Missa Brevis for which Bruckner delivers an
eight-part canon which the Russian choir weaves into an unforgettable web
of sound that penetrates to the core of Bruckner's art. In the long
Credo vigour alternates with that distinctive calm grandeur Bruckner
was capable of and hearing these passages performed by this Russian choir
should make us hear his better known symphonic passages with new ears. It's
hard to imagine anyone failing to be deeply moved by this performance and
I recommend it warmly to admirers of Bruckner and choral singing. A special
word of praise also to the engineers for balancing the instruments against
the choir so well.
Magnificent singing recorded in an ideal acoustic with voices and instruments
matched perfectly.
Tony Duggan
Performance:
Recording:
