Baroque or not, he'll fix it
BY ARTHUR KAPTAINIS, THE GAZETTE January 10, 2009
...Continued
With or without a baroque agenda, few 21st-century ensembles perform Bach as robustly as did the New Philharmonia and BBC Chorus for Otto Klemperer in 1967 (to mention recording of the Mass in B Minor that includes one of the most stirring Kyries ever conceived). And despite the prevailing belief that all pre-Tafelmusik conductors were partial to Brontosaurus Bach, Klemperer stipulated a relatively modest orchestra of 50 and a choir of 48 for this recording.
The peculiar nature of the Mass in B Minor also needs to be considered. It is among Bach's greatest compositions, but there is no record of a complete performance before 1859, more than a century after the composer's death. There is, strictly speaking, no "period" performance to emulate. The absence of a manuscript title page, and the fact a Lutheran composer had little liturgical need to assemble a mass, add to its abstract, mysterious aura.
In any case, its majestic dimensions accommodate a "modern" performing style more comfortably than either of Bach's Passions or any of his Cantatas. Whether importing Tafelmusik was an inspired idea is a question to be answered by the performances (which include three Germans and one Croatian among the vocal soloists).
If the visit is a great success, could it lead to other things?
"We would love that," Lamon said. "We'll see how it goes. You have to date first before you get married. And we haven't quite met yet!"
Kent Nagano conducts Bach's Mass in B Minor in Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts on Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 18, at 2:30 p.m. Go to www.osm.ca or call 514-842-2112.
Even if the MSO has been supplanted in Bach, the orchestra will not be idle. Tomorrow, the big offering is Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, uncut, under Mark Wigglesworth. The Tuesday and Wednesday performances of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, under Nagano, will be recorded, with patch sessions the following week.
Nagano's schedule also is far from light. The conductor must move psychologically from Stravinsky and Mahler on Tuesday evening to Bach in rehearsal Wednesday and back to Stravinsky and Mahler in the evening. The presence of microphones leaves no room for compromise.
The musicians have been notified they will be spending Oct. 14 in Guanajuato, Mexico, as the opening act of the Festival Internacional Cervantino. The conductor will not be Nagano but MSO conductor-in-residence Jean-Fran??ois Rivest. The province of Quebec is considered "the guest of honour" at the 2009 edition of this annual performing-arts festival. No repertoire information has been released.
akaptainis@sympatico.ca
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