Bach B minor Mass Concert Review

It is hard for me to imagine a better concert than the one Marisa and I attended on Saturday night:

Bach: b-minor Mass


Concentus Musicus Wien
Arnold Schoenberg Chor
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor


Genia Kühmeier, s
Elisabeth von Magnus, s
Bernarda Fink, a
Michael Schade, t
Florian Boesch, b

First of all, no pics. I forgot my camera. My bad...

Anyways, the b minor is one of those pieces that I don't listen to very often, but is on my mental list of most important pieces in my life (others would be be the Bach St. Matthew Passion, Goldberg Variations, Mahler 9th and 6th, a couple of Wagner operas, and all the late Bruckner Symphonies....). As I was listening to it I was taken back to my college days, when we had the B-W Bach Festival every May. My senior year, we played the b minor, and I got to sit next to one of my teachers, Mrs. Mary Squire, one of the greatest piccolo trumpet players I ever got to hear, or sit next to. That was 30 years ago last May. She has since passed, but my memory of her and that concert is strong.

This concert, which took place in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, was in many ways the summing up of a great career. Nikolaus Harnoncourt is now 80 years young, and is one of the most important figures in the entire "original instrument" approach to Bach. He has had a fundamental influence on how all musicians approach the pre-classical periods, and especially the music of the Baroque. He was, in 1953, both a founding member and leader of the Concentus Musicus. The idea behind the "movement" (as it certainly would be called) was to "as nearly as possible" try to recreate the intention and sounds of the time, by playing on historically correct instruments - valveless brass, woodwinds on older key systems, strings on gut strings, etc,  and a lower "A", (basically a semitone lower).

(If you want to hear what the differences are go listen on iTunes and sample the recordings of the opening chorus of the St. Matthew Passion or the B minor Mass, by two conductors: Herbert Von Karajan and then Nikolaus Harnoncourt. It will take about 2 seconds for all to become clear.)

It was all very controversial at the beginning and debate continues as to how much we can really know what the conditions were at the time, what the pitch was, and most importantly, in terms of style and interpretation, how fast and slow things were... yet, this new approach has changed the way any informed musician looks at Bach, whether playing a modern or historical instrument.

Since the year of their founding, the skills of musicians have developed tremendously. In some cities (like here in Vienna) there are musicians whose sole career path is by way of the original instrument movement. Many cities have musicians who bounce happily between both modern and historical.

What Marisa and I found so remarkable at this concert was how none of it mattered. It was simply beautiful. Convincing, and beautiful.

The Arnold Schoenberg Choir is a miracle of pure, clear, in tune singing. Beautiful chords, perfectly in tune, with no vibrato to cloud the clarity of the harmony. Each soloist matched their purity.

The orchestra was wonderful. The string sound was rich, dark hued, and yet light. The winds perfectly perfectly in tune, even, and so expressive in their obbligato solos. Lastly, the trumpets were perfect.  They played as if creation itself depended on them (which as we all know, it does...), yet their volume never crowded out the choir.

Harnoncourt, 80 years old, looks as though he could continue to conduct for a long time. He stood throughout, showing no signs of trouble. He is a tall man and uses no podium. His conducting is clear, simple and unremarkable. The music he produces with his colleagues is anything but unremarkable. He must recognize how far he and his "movement" have come.

The Viennese have a reputation of waiting until an artist dies to begin to appreciate them: Mozart, Schubert, Mahler, and Bruckner are examples. However, their are many more examples of great musicians that Vienna loved and praised throughout their careers: Beethoven, Brahms, J. Strauss, the conductors Herbert Von Karajan and Carlos Kleiber. Nikolaus Harnoncourt belongs to the latter category.

At the beginning of most concerts in Vienna, the orchestra enters the stage together, one or two minutes before the "downbeat", to general applause. Then, if there is a choir, they come on stage, then vocal soloists. The conductor appears. As Harnoncourt walked quietly on stage to start the b minor Mass, the applause, having already been going on for 2 minutes as everyone on stage took their places, swelled like a giant wave, and remained at a peak for almost 60 seconds as he stood there facing us, the audience, bowing slightly every few seconds. No cheers, no bravos, no whistles, just steady, intense applause.

It was a remarkable thing to witness and to participate in. It was as if the hall was in no hurry for him to start the concert; not until he was given the deep respect of a music loving city.