John Eliot Gardiner makes heavy weather of Bruckner’s D minor Mass, an already weighty work that in this performance won’t win many new adherents, even among those who love the composer’s symphonies. Yes, the Vienna Philharmonic plays beautifully, the Monteverdi Choir comports itself well, and the soloists are generally fine, but it all adds up to something less than whole in this oddly dispassionate reading. Compared to Matthew Best/Corydon and Eugen Jochum/Bavarian Radio, Gardiner sounds decidedly somber, even in the more uplifting and declamatory sections like the “Gloria” and “Credo”. Things are even more benumbed in the slower sections, with the “Kyrie” so uninflected that it becomes stultifying. This closed-in feeling is reinforced by DG’s dimly-lit and harsh-sounding recording.
However, the sound improves noticeably for the 5 Motets, recorded in England’s St. Peter’s & St. Paul’s church rather than Vienna’s Musikverein. The Monteverdi Choir sings with a vibrancy and finesse that was not so discernible in the Mass, and Gardiner thankfully lets the music flow organically. But you’ll do better overall with one of the above recommended versions of these works–and Naxos also has an excellent disc of Bruckner motets in its catalog.
