To celebrate the special 250th anniversary of Mozart’s
birth, Gloriae Dei Cantores and Vox Caeli Sinfonia joined
forces at the Church of the Transfiguration, Orleans to
record a selection of Mozart’s rare sacred choral works.
As a refreshing change to the usual Mozart sacred choral
scores this release presents a relatively unknown side
of Mozart’s genius with scores that are rarely heard in
the concert hall or the service of worship. Notably the
release contains a rare account of the largely forgotten
oratorio Davide penitente, K. 469. Also there are
two excerpts from Mozart’s only original oratorio, La Betulia liberata,
as well as two Litanies and several shorter choral
works. In addition, two Church Sonatas are included
as fill-ups.
Mozart composed his Davide penitente 1785 at
Vienna, well after his sojourn in Salzburg had ended. In
the last decade of his life his interest in sacred music
had declined. Davide penitente owes its existence
to the Tonkunstier-Sozietat, a Viennese benevolent society
who commissioned the work for their Lenten pension fund
benefit. For the score Mozart decided to recycle music
from his incomplete C Minor Mass, K. 427 from Vienna
in 1782/83. Mozart used the Kyrie and the Gloria but
not the Credo. He composed two new arias that
were custom-designed for his soloists, who were virtuoso
singers. For the text it is thought that Mozart turned
to Lorenzo Da Ponte who used the psalms of David, both
penitential and joyful.
Following a commission from the wealthy Don Giuseppe Ximena of Padua, Prince of Aragon,
Mozart composed La Betulia liberata - his only real
oratorio. Written in 1771 in both Italy and Salzburg the oratorio fell behind
the opera Ascanio in Alba in his list of priorities
and he never heard this sacred score performed. The texts
were drawn from the Scriptures by Viennese court poet Pietro
Metastasio, from the apocryphal Book of Judith. This recording
presents two arias: Del pari infeconda and Terribile
d’aspetto.
Composed by Mozart in Salzburg, in 1771, the Litaniae
Lauretanae was written for the Salzburg cathedral.
Litanies consist of a series of invocations or supplications
with responses and this Litaniae Lauretanae takes
its title from Loreto, a popular destination for
pilgrims. Mozart writes compactly, expressing the text
in a direct, unfussy way. The substantial Litaniae
de venerabili altaris sacramento was composed in
1776 in Salzburg. An inventive and richly expressive
work the Litany was performed in Salzburg cathedral as
well as in other cities with great success and is arguably
the finest sacred work from his Salzburg years. Mozart
composed with a new boldness of expression and an interesting
touch is his use of Gregorian chant in the Viaticum.
The Regina coeli was composed in Salzburg in
1771 as one of the Marian antiphons for vespers during
Eastertide. Each of the four sections displays characteristics
of both the Italian and the Austrian traditions. It is
a work of festive spirit and celebration. The Veni Sancte
Spiritus is a short single movement work that Mozart
composed in Vienna in 1768. A similar format is followed
by the two offertories: the Misericordias Domini and
also by the Venite populi, also 1776 from his Salzburg
years.
This double contains two of the seventeen Church
Sonatas (Epistle Sonatas) that Mozart
wrote for use in Salzburg between the years 1772 and
1780. The Church Sonatas feature the use of the
organ and were written to bridge the short liturgical
gap between the Epistle and the Gospel at Mass. Seven
of his Church Sonatas were composed for two
solo violins, bass and organ and another seven for strings
and organ. The K. 278 and K. 329 are two of the three scores that Mozart
composed for orchestra
and organ. They date from 1777 and 1779 respectively.
On this recording it is extremely difficult to hear the
organ part over the orchestra which is a common fault
with recordings of these works.
The forty-voice ensemble Glorić Dei Cantores (Singers
to the Glory of God) under the direction of Elizabeth Patterson
are in really fine voice and it is difficult not to be
impressed by their security of ensemble. Ten soloists are
named in the booklet notes and although there are episodes
of unsteadiness and one or two uncomfortable vibratos it
is hard to find too much fault with their performances.
I especially enjoyed the voice of bass Paul Norman, who
is rich, clear and expressive in Achior’s aria Terrible
d’aspetto in Betulia. The performances of the sopranos Sr. Christine Helfrich and Kathy
Schuman are also worthy of note. The Vox Caeli Sinfonia
(Voice of Heaven Symphony) are directed by Richard Pugsley
and perfectly complement Gloriae Dei Cantores. Their playing
is impressive being especially alert and sensitive.
The rarity of many of these sacred scores makes it difficult
to find alternative recordings with the same programme
to use as comparisons. If I was to nominate just one recording
of Mozart’s sacred choral works for inclusion in a collection
it would be a recent MDG Gold release from the Kölner Kammerchor
and the Collegium Cartusianum under the direction of Peter
Neumann of Salzburg
Sacred Music. That issue comprises the Vesperae
solennes de confessore, Missa
solemnis, Church Sonata No. 17 and Regina
coeli (MDG Gold SACD 932 1346-6). Neumann’s recording was made in 2004 at the Trinitatiskirche,
Köln and is notable for high quality performances from
the choir and orchestra. The soloists; soprano Cornelia
Samuelis, alto Ursula Eittinger, tenor Benoît Haller and
bass Markus Flaig provide performances of the utmost reverence and sincerity, avoiding any temptation toward unnecessary
ostentation.
This well packaged release from Gloriae Dei Cantores
contains full Latin texts with English translations and
fascinating and informative liner notes from organist David
Chalmers. Although not presenting too many problems the
sound feels close and slightly over-bright in the forte passages.
It is good to hear some of Mozart’s lesser performed
sacred choral works in this his anniversary year.
Michael
Cookson
BUY NOW
AmazonUK AmazonUS
|
|
Gloriae
Dei Cantores/Elizabeth C. Patterson 
