This recording, the last entry in Naxos’ excellent traversal of Haydn’s Masses with New York’s Trinity Choir and Rebel Baroque Orchestra, already has received just acclaim as part of the label’s comprehensive boxed collection (type Q12575 in Search Reviews). The program affectingly and effectively combines the minimally scored and lesser-known “Small organ solo Mass” with the grand and oft-performed Theresienmesse, which employs a quartet of soloists as only Haydn can–the writing is exquisite (a clear reminder of the thing-or-two Mozart earlier learned from the elder master). No 18th-century composer wrote with a more developed sense of sonority than Haydn, nor, when the occasion called for it (which was most of the time), with a more perfectly honed dramatic skill, whether in church music or opera or chamber works. Yes, this is church music, but it’s also unfailingly entertaining, certainly a plus for keeping a congregation happily in their seats!
As we have come to expect, J. Owen Burdick and his first-rate choir and orchestra capture both the functional, liturgical idiom and the musical/artistic aspects of these works with both enthusiasm and a respect for the particulars of Haydn’s scoring–that unique, ingratiating “sonority”. The boxed set is a bargain and well worth owning; but if you want only a representative recording from the collection, this one is a top choice.
