Bernstein’s outrageously
eclectic, hugely enjoyable theatre piece
Mass, commissioned to inaugurate
the new John F. Kennedy Centre in Washington
in 1971, has been enjoying something
of a revival recently. There was an
excellent new full price recording from
German forces under Kent Nagano last
year (Harmonia Mundi) and there is talk
of a live stage revival under the capable
baton of Marin Alsop later this year
at the Barbican. Of course, Bernstein’s
own energetic and uniquely authoritative
set on Sony has been re-issued at mid-price,
and will undoubtedly provide the severest
competition for this all-Swedish recording.
In fact, to be quite honest, I’m not
sure there is any real contest.
There are two big and
immediate drawbacks here. The first
is the terrible packaging, which has
only the barest information, amounting
to a list of the performers (in Swedish)
and a track listing on the back, in
English thank goodness. There is nothing
whatever about the music, not even a
synopsis, and no libretto. Bernstein’s
Sony set has a minimised reprint of
the excellent original, which includes
the full text and important stage directions.
In such a multi-layered work as this,
it is crucial to have an idea what is
going on, regardless of the language.
I had access to the original LP booklet
(and superb photos by Don Hunstein of
the premiere) as well as the vocal score.
Without them, my enjoyment would be
severely marred, and it is unforgivable
of record companies not to consider
the listener in this way. Bernstein
and his collaborator Stephen Schwartz
spent months on the text, and Humphrey
Burton tells us, in his Bernstein biography,
about the composer spending many more
hours checking the proofs for the very
booklet I have been using. So to not
have access to that text is a big black
mark here.
The other, less important
but nevertheless irritating, consideration
is the English pronunciation of some
of the Swedish performers. Luckily,
Olle Persson’s celebrant is generally
good, only distorting vowels occasionally,
and getting a little tongue-tied in
some of the cleverer word play, such
as ‘There are local vocal yokels who
we know collect a crowd; they can fashion
a rebuttal that’s as subtle as a sword’.
Some of his colleagues fair a little
worse, and when you return to the snappiness
of the original hand-picked American
cast, you realise how difficult it must
have been for some of these foreign
singers to master the more difficult
passages.
With those two caveats
out of the way, there is much to enjoy
musically. We certainly know of the
skill of Swedish musicians, and the
playing and singing of the well-drilled
cast is very good. Mass is such
an infectious, tuneful piece that there
really is something for everyone here.
Bernstein put his heart and soul into
this, his artistic credo. You will be
aware constantly of references to other
music, be it Stravinsky’s Symphony
of Psalms and Les Noces,
Orff’s Carmina Burana or Bernstein’s
own On the Waterfront,
Chichester Psalms or, especially,
West Side Story – I though at
least twice (‘God Said’, track 21 and
‘Confiteor’, track 16) that we were
hearing slightly altered versions of
‘Officer Krupke’ and ‘Cool’. There is
also the feeling that some of this work
is a child of its time (1971) with echoes
of post-Hippie musicals such as Hair
and Schwartz’s own Godspell looming
large. But Bernstein is Bernstein, and
it’s impossible not to be swept up by
the vivacity, inventiveness, great tunes
and sheer audacity of the enterprise.
Who else could mix avant-garde electronics,
blues, rock, Viennese classicism (including
an instrumental interlude on a theme
by Beethoven), gospel choir, a kazoo
chorus, serialism and mediaeval tropes,
and get away with it? Not many, and
though a lot of critics hated this piece,
mainly for its showiness and heart-on-sleeve
emotionalism, there’s no doubt that
this is Bernstein putting his artistic
and creative cards on the table, and
with the sort of flair only his talent
and personality were capable of.
If anything, that’s
what comes across in this Swedish production,
a sense of fun and enthusiasm for the
project. The cast and players really
sound like they are loving every minute
of this, and who can blame them? There
are some great voices on display here;
I’ve mentioned the excellent Olle Persson
already, as he carries much of the solo
responsibility - I wonder if he’d acquainted
himself with the composer’s choice,
Alan Titus, as there are similarities
in delivery - and mention must be made
of the superbly blowzy blues singing
in the second trope ‘I don’t know’.
In fact, this does sound authentically
American, and I wondered whether this
was the one non-Swedish name in the
cast list, Sharon Dyall. The instrumental
playing is good, but does not ‘rock’
quite like Bernstein’s own, though not
many will, I guess. A couple of other
observations: the quadraphonic tape
used at the start is from the original,
but Lenny’s own taped voice at the very
end (‘The Mass is ended, go in peace’)
is replaced by the Celebrant. Also,
the final track, entitled ‘Thank You’,
is simply five plus minutes of applause
and cheering, hardly necessary on CD.
The simple question
is, how can this be recommended over
the Bernstein original, re-mastered
and costing less than £12.00? The answer
is, it can’t. The digital sound is no
better, the packaging hopeless, and
is ultimately best left for those who
took part as a memento of the event.
I do urge you to acquaint yourself with
this magnificently bizarre, infectious,
glorious mish-mash of a piece, but get
the real article with the man himself
at the helm.
Tony Haywood
Olle Persson (celebrant) 
