Beethoven: Missa Solemnis In D Major, Op. 123

For Missa Solemnis Nikolaus Harnoncourt had been trying all his life to understand what Beethoven really wanted, finding that the score did not reveal this. Nor did any of the innumerable recordings help because their conductors did not know, either.In July 2015 Beethoven (resident in the musical wing of Heaven) had been told that they were expecting Harnoncourt to come up to Heaven soon and was worried that time would run out for Harnoncourt's attempts to understand his masterpiece, knowing that no other conductor was even close to this understanding.So Beethoven requested and was granted permission to communicate with Harnoncourt and help him with his problem. Harnoncourt was in his private chapel one Sunday when Beethoven came through to him. It took some time before Nikolaus understood that he was about to be revealed the secrets of Missa Solemnis. But eventually he grasped fully what Beethoven was revealing.At last, Harnoncourt understood what he had been vainly attempting to work out. Essentially, it concerned the structure and dynamics of the work, in subtle but important ways, none of which was in the score. Harnoncourt was to perform the work in Graz in July 2015 but he needed numerous rehearsals with his musicians before he could do what Beethoven had revealed to him.Eventually he was able to steer his musicians to the new path and Graz saw two performances, the greatest ever performed. Beethoven had permission to listen to these new interpretations and was thoroughly satisfied, even amazed at the perfection of the singers and the instrumentalists. It was only just in time because Nikolaus went to Heaven five months later, in March 2016.Now, we ordinary mortals have been given the chance to hear what had been revealed to Nikolaus. And it is quite shattering to hear it for the first time as it was always meant to be. Passages that seemed disconnected now become integral parts of the whole work. Passages which have always been played as main elements are now relegated just to preparations. The whole structure now makes complete musical sense, never before having done that.(Back to earth) Now that we have heard what Beethoven really wanted, all other performances sound like blundering by beginners.The Graz recordings are very good indeed as long as the sound levels are moderate. Very unfortunately there is a microphone which is only used in orchestral and choral tuttis and which distorts horribly. If you look at the wave-forms of these passages you clearly see that either the microphone itself is being overloaded or else the head amplifiers are defective. The distortions come on both stereo channels and I suspect that the problem may just have been bad positioning with the microphone being much too close to the musicians, perhaps because there was no room to position it properly. I have spoken to Herr Micha, the recording engineer and he says that he knew only too well of the problem but Herr Kerstinger, his superior, would not allow him to change the defective microphone, saying that there was not time before the performance was due to start. Luckily for us, Kerstinger eventually allowed Micha to substitute the defective microphone but only part way through Praeludium, there being no retakes of the earlier passages. So now track 9 starts with the overloads but ends without them.Despite the gross microphones overloads, these are the greatest ever performances of the Missa Solemnis and should be revered as such.Thank you ORF, styriarte and Sony Classical for this marvelous opportunity to hear what is arguably the greatest ever musical work, performed as we only dreamed before.

I bought this with great anticipation, and mostly it fulfils my idea of what the great Harnoncourt would achieve at the end of his life; this, the piece that probably meant the most to him, on period instruments. The recording quality is FANTASTIC, the orchestra play so well and the choir are great. Sadly he has chosen a tenor soloist who is unacceptable in this company and a bass who is only just a little better, and considering the massive contribution of the soloists through the work, it has put me off this recording completely. Especially when one thinks that on his Teldec recording he had Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Robert Holl, two of the greatest singers of their generation. If you want Harnoncourt, then buy the earlier version, though not on period instruments but with great performances from ALL involved or the DVD of Concertgebouw performances from not long ago; even better is the live John Eliot Gardner recording on Soli Gloria Deo, which for me is a finer reading and has the unrivalled Monteverdi Choir at the heart of it and four very good soloists, even if the recording quality doesn't match that of Sony on this recording. This recording would have been highly recommended had those two gentlemen had been in the league of Laura Aitken or Bernarda Fink, who are magnificent.

Harnoncourt understands. He knows Modern recording just gets better and better. The review of this on radio 3 just stopped me on my tracks. Clarity. Space. Majesty. Beethoven builds a cathedral of praise any glory and in the sanctus we are visited by and converse with the holy spirit. Put this on the best sound system you can. Turn up the volume and fill your head and your heart.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt's last recording, issued posthumously, and well worth having. Period performance without being over-rigorous about it, but then that was Harnoncourt (I recall him once in an interview saying 'I might hold a 17th century piece of wood in my hand but as soon as I bow it I make a 20th century sound'). Well worth hearing.

A towering musical achievement and a fitting end piece to Nikolaus Harnoncourt's astonishing career. I have his Beethoven Symphony cycle on CD and this recording is a worthy companion. Fantastic sound quality, marvellous musicianship.

Nice recording, marvellous music, but none of it was outstandingly better than earlier recordings.

A major problem with most interpretations of the Missa Solemnis by Beethoven is that they do not do justice to the strong element of doubt that runs through it - the interpretations of Klemperer and Levine are particularly egregious in this respect (even if they are very fine in other respects). Another common problem is that the work's many moments of inwardness are downplayed - the interpretations by Gardiner suffer from this (though they are superb in other respects).It is telling how many reviews speak of this recording as devotional, as if to signal how uncommon this is in recordings of the Missa Solemnis. Most interpreters do not seem to try to do justice to the Missa as a work coming out of a living spiritual tradition. This final interpretation by Harnoncourt manages to combine the works spirit of faith/belief, the extrovert/inward and the devotional/dramatic to a brilliant degree. It's wonderfully sung and played. The 'Et incarnatus est' is a particular highlight. And the solo violin in the Benedictus is perfectly fine, even if the Holy Spirit in this recording is less assertive than most. This recording is up there with the very best.