Nineteenth century French composers had something of a
penchant
for Solemn Masses which, to ears used to Bach's
Mass in B
minor or Beethoven's
Missa Solemnis, were not in the
least solemn; famously, in the case of that naturalised Frenchman
Rossini's
Petite Messe Solennelle, not small either. Anyone
who approaches Gounod's mass expecting a vast, lofty,
uncompromisingly serious sonic edifice is in for a surprise - though whether
a shocking or delightful one will depend on the individual listener. I would
think that it will also be a considerable surprise to most people that
Gounod, who is essentially remembered today only for
Faust and
Roméo et Juliette, wrote thirteen masses, eight oratorios and
large-scale cantatas and three requiems. Saint-Saëns, for one, believed that
Gounod's greatest works were his religious ones, and that they would
long outlive his operas.
For much of the nineteenth century, French composers saw no essential
difference in the style appropriate for the stage and the church. Only in
the 1870s did reforming voices, instigated by the great organ builder
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll and first put into operation by César Franck, banish
the
opéra-comique from the choir stalls. Gounod's
Messe
solennelle de Ste Cécile was written in 1855, so long pre-dated these
reforming ideas.
The performance re-issued here is a famous one. It was not the first
recording, that distinction had gone to the recording conducted by
Jean-Claude Hartemann which was issued the year before. The present one was
generally considered better, largely because it was more "serious"
in its approach. Markevitch was certainly not the first conductor who would
spring to mind for this work but he undoubtedly gives it a spirituality to
which the, arguably more authentic, lighter style of Hartemann does not
aspire. In many places Markevitch's tempi are considerably slower
than those adopted by Hartemann or Prêtre in his 1984 recording but to my
ears they always work.
The soloists play a comparatively minor role, but they are also a most
unexpected bunch. Irmgard Seefried is perhaps least so; her light, clear,
Mozart voice is reasonably close in sound to a French soprano, and the
lovely poise of her singing makes her contribution a delight. Quite what was
going on in the mind of the person who employed the notorious Mime in the
Solti
Ring as the tenor, or Bayreuth's great Flying
Dutchman, Telramund and Klingsor as the bass is beyond my imagining. I
suppose it is luxury casting of a sort, but it is not successful. In the
"Domine, non sunt dignus" Stolze croons the music in exactly the
same way that he sang Mime's duplicitous attempts to persuade
Siegfried to drink the poisoned soup. His very Teutonic Latin pronunciation
does not help matters. Uhde, who died of a heart attack on stage only four
months after this recording, has almost nothing to do, but makes a
workman-like job of it. The choir and orchestra are very fine.
I have always loved this piece. I make no claims to its being a
masterpiece, but if approached without unhelpful preconceptions about what a
"Solemn Mass" should be like, you may find that you love it too.
It may only be a soufflé, but where's the harm in that?
Paul Steinson
