Herreweghe's 1988 B Minor Mass is gentle without being
genteel; polished without being perfect and genuine while also
being cloyingly genial. It was a recording that did much to establish
the conductor's credentials for the work. And it was something
of a compromise. Neither one-to-a-part, nor 'over'-interpreted,
its greatest virtue is probably consistency. There is a pleasing
logic that drives the music from the first notes of the perhaps
rather under-exposed Kyrie to the quiet and uninsistent
dona nobis pacem.This reissue of that 1988 account also
from Virgin shares only the bass, Peter Kooy, and the Ghent Collegium
Vocale and Orchestra with the B Minor Mass which Herreweghe
recorded on Harmonia Mundi (HMC90 1614/5) ten years later - and
ten years ago. That represented in some ways a step backward;
it had a more perfunctory, not to say 'rough', 'ragged' feel to
it.
So of the two recordings by Herreweghe,
the earlier 1988 version is to be preferred. There is a quiet
and undemonstrative commitment to the structure, and to the
beauty. There is also an acknowledgement on the conductor's
part that there are limitless depths and heights to Bach's conception,
from however piecemeal a set of original resources it's now
known that the Mass was assembled. But those heights and depths
themselves, while alluded to, are not consistently experienced
- even by attentive listeners.This is not because of hasty tempi
- the pace is dignified throughout… and exciting - at the Cum
sancto spiritu, for example. Nor is the lack of real spirit
in this reading due to inadequate solo singing, which is studied
and thoughtful at all turns. Nor yet because Herreweghe is insufficiently
versed in the work and its significance; still less because
of any waywardness or intemperateness with the timbres on which
he insists. Nor has he attempted to perform merely the notes
on the page with disregard to the Mass' soul. All five singers
- Patriasz, Schlick and Kooy, in particular - invest much reflection
and consideration in their performances.
Nevertheless, though not lacklustre, this
B Minor Mass will not be everyone's ideal. For what is
in some ways Bach's greatest achievement, a performance really
succeeds and is truly memorable when it exposes at once the
grandeur, the profundity and the humanity inherent in every
note. These are qualities which reveal themselves as much from
the structure - successions of key and tempi, for instance -
as from individual moments and passages which both form part
of an ineffable whole. And are also sufficiently poignant as
to seem almost self-standing; take the opening of the Sanctus,
for example. Sadly, Herreweghe's guidance, while not perfunctory
or superficial, somehow fails to fulfil most aspirations to
these qualities. We know they're there … waiting. We know Herreweghe
appreciates that these would add to the experience. But they're
always kept back, as if in reserve.Technically this is not a
bad account. The singers' commitment is beyond doubt. Herreweghe's
empathy with the work is clear. The acoustic is what you'd expect
from twenty years ago. The booklet is a little on the perfunctory
side, lacking the full text and not really saying anything new
about the work. As a historical document of the way Herreweghe
was thinking at the time, when authentic early music practice
was well established, it has its value. But this reading is
definitely not a first choice. For that, look instead to Suzuki
(BIS CD1701) or Gardiner (DG 415514).
Mark Sealey
