This Panorama release pairs two of the choice items from Bernstein’s live Beethoven series, circa 1979-81. The Symphony No. 9, from his complete Vienna Philharmonic symphony cycle, remains one of the great performances for its bold concept, brilliant execution, and overall sense of drama. From first note to last, Bernstein is alive to every inflection, every nuance in Beethoven’s score (even a few that aren’t, like the string portamentos in the Adagio). For the finale Bernstein assembled a quartet of soloists whose individual timbres make for some unusually piquant combined textures. Best of all is Kurt Moll, whose exquisitely beautiful voice rings with the same humanity and depth of feeling that made him such a fine Gurnemanz for Karajan. Bernstein’s overall approach is decidedly old-school (listen to those wonderfully lugubrious cello recitatives in the finale’s introduction), and I must say it’s a welcome relief after a year that brought us Abbado’s coldly denatured Berlin rendition and Maximianno Cobra’s obscene, 110-minute-long leviathan on DVD.
Actually, the Missa solemnis is the real cause for rejoicing. After being so long out of print (in the U.S., at least), it’s again available, in sparkling remastered sound. This live performance, recorded in the Concertgebouw, conveys the enormous challenges of Beethoven’s score (and the toll they take on the singers, as in Edda Moser’s squally high-B in the Sanctus). But mainly what comes across is the heroic effort on the part of all the performers. Bernstein has not so much immersed himself in the score as he has absorbed it, with so many brilliant interpretive touches (those urgent cello octave leaps at Crucifixus etiam in the Credo) sounding as if he were improvising the entire work on the spot. The singers clearly are giving their all, with René Kollo sounding satisfyingly heroic in the Credo and Kurt Moll again stealing the show with his arresting Agnus Dei (how’s that for a low F-sharp?) Unfortunately, DG once again thinks that a “beginner” can appreciate this music without any printed text. Who are they kidding? Look, if this is your first Missa, then buy it, as well as another mid-priced version, say Klemperer’s, just to get the text. It’s that good.
