Mass No. 3, for soloists, chorus, orchestra & organ in F minor ("Great"), WAB 28
Considerable critical attention has been focused on Marek Janowski's recordings of Anton Bruckner's symphonies for PentaTone, but this 2013 SACD offers an account of the Mass No. 3 in F minor that is sure to surprise skeptics. Conducting Bruckner's greatest choral work is a real change of pace for Janowski, who gets to show another side of Bruckner with fewer attendent problems of versions or editions, and almost no question of interpretation. Curiously, the Mass No. 3 was revised four times, yet Bruckner's slight ...
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Considerable critical attention has been focused on Marek Janowski's recordings of Anton Bruckner's symphonies for PentaTone, but this 2013 SACD offers an account of the Mass No. 3 in F minor that is sure to surprise skeptics. Conducting Bruckner's greatest choral work is a real change of pace for Janowski, who gets to show another side of Bruckner with fewer attendent problems of versions or editions, and almost no question of interpretation. Curiously, the Mass No. 3 was revised four times, yet Bruckner's slight differences in orchestration are not as major as his wholesale changes of content in the symphonies, and most listeners will likely have few quibbles about the edition used here. Even better for Janowski, the noble and lucid performance by the Rundfunkchor Berlin and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande is so compelling and clear, the performance inspires confidence in the conductor's choices. The singing by the quartet of soprano Lenneke Ruiten, mezzo-soprano Iris Vermillion, tenor Shawn...
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