Mozart - Great Mass in C Minor/ Ave Verum Corpus/ Exsultate Jubilate

Mozart - Great Mass in C Minor/ Ave Verum Corpus/ Exsultate Jubilate Review

The Great C-minor Mass has always been my favorite among Mozart's larger sacred works. Its genesis as a thanksgiving to God for Constanza's hand in marriage makes it brim with tremendous joy. It is the most viscerally joyful and exhilarating among all his sacred works. The thundering "Credo in unum deum" called out by full chorus stuns the listener with its emphatic declaration of faith. The repeated Hosannas in the Sanctus resound with such exuberance that Mozart's joy is palpable to even the most jaded in the audience. Together with the sublime motet, "Ave Verum Corpus," and the exultant "Exsultate Jubilate," it makes a lovely triptych of Mozart's most moving sacred pieces.

Leonard Bernstein's performance is typical of his late period. Tempi are very broad, as if he were savouring every single note, lovingly caressing each as if for the last time. Viewers will invariably look at this in relation to his impending death. My preference is towards period performances with their generally lighter and swifter styles but this is very beautiful nonetheless. Arleen Auger is delightful in the Exsultate Jubilate. Together with Frederica von Stade, Frank Lopardo, Cornelius Hauptmann and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, they deliver a splendid old-style performance of the Great Mass. This is a live recording, made in the Baroque Basilica in Waldsassen, Bavaria, in the Catholic south of Germany. It is obviously meant as a sacred occasion, with the audience, more like a congregation, reverentially silent. There is no applause, not even at the end. The Mass concludes in silence, broken only by the distant tolling of church bells. It is as much a spiritual as an artistic experience.

This is a fine DVD transfer of a film made in 1990. It is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Picture is clean, clear and sharp with strong accurate colours and deep blacks. Sound is in 2.0 PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1 and is sumptuously full. The original latin texts are available as optional subtitles, as are translations into 5 other languages including English. There is an interesting 7-minute introduction by Bernstein in German with optional English subtitles. He doesn't dwell so much on the music as on the socio-political state of Europe at the time, noting how after centuries of war, Europe was at last at peace and free (this was just after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dismantling of communism across Eastern Europe). A moving reflection and a sad one considering the state we are now in today. My copy came without a booklet or any liner notes. I'm not sure if this was a mistake on the part of the manufacturer but the lack of even basic liner notes is disgraceful for a full priced classical music DVD.

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