Critical mass

Browsing through forthcoming CD releases, there seems to be something in the air, with no fewer than 3 new recordings of Bach's B minor Mass forthcoming, and another to be re-released. It's already a particularly crowded field. The list given at the Bach Cantatas website is pretty difficult to get to grips with, given its size! And in the last couple of years, we've already had two outstanding recordings from Masaaki Suzuki (available in a fantastic bargain box set) & Jos van Veldhoven. Do we need any more? Well, it's always nice to have more choices... ;-)



Marc Minkowski's recording (released in France last year & due out here on 31 March, according to Amazon) is his first Bach disc. His record label Naive have put together a nice little snippet on Youtube with brief interviews and extracts:




It sounds like it might be something special. Smaller scale (2 singers per part), it sounds like it compares well to Jos van Veldhoven's recording from 2007 along similar lines (see the Classicstoday review here). You can listen to the recording if you sign up for a (free) account with Deezer, although this (album link) is hardly an ideal way to hear it, given that the transitions between tracks are often jumpy and off-putting. You get a good enough idea to hear that there's a clarity and elegance to Minkowski's interpretation which could very well make his recording outstanding.



Sigiswald Kuijken and La Petite Bande are currently working through a project to record a selection of Bach's cantatas using one singer per part (on Accent records, they've got up to Volume 7). Now they seem to have a B Minor Mass due out (on 6 April according to MDT) which is performed on a smaller scale than Minkowski's, using eight singers. It's due to be released on 2 SACDs. There's a brief blurb about this album on the Challenge records website. The cantata recordings that I've heard suggest that this could be yet another one to look out for. In addition, with La Petite Bande under threat of having a subsidy removed (see the Save La Petite Bande website and sign the petition - just passed 20,000 signatures), now is a good time to support them a bit by looking out for this record! On the download front, I expect that the record will turn up sooner or later as MP3s on Emusic, who have recently listed their Monteverdi Vespers.



Finally some repeat offenders. Someone who has recorded this music on three previous occasions, Michel Corboz and his Lausanne Ensembles, have a new version released (30 March, MDT) which is also available on Emusic. His earlier (second) recording for Erato can be heard on the music streaming service Spotify (album link), while the later (third) recording for Virgin is available on the mid price Virgin de Virgin label (for instance, from MDT). Virgin then provide the final instalment in this glut of Bach recordings, re-releasing Philippe Herreweghe's first version of the B minor Mass (his second, for Harmonia Mundi is one of the very best), again at mid-price, on 6 April. If you want to hear this without getting the CD, it too is available via Spotify (album link).

All slightly confusing and it adds up to being, as ever, incredibly spoilt for choice when it comes to Bach's vocal music. Not that I'm complaining... If and when my bank balance allows me to write any coherent comments on any of these discs, I will post them here. I'm also putting together a big list of great classical recordings that you can hear on Spotify. There are lots and I'll share a few here.