This third volume in our series of Mozart’s Complete Masses will surely prove as attractive as its predecessors. Vol. 1 (8.574270) received an ICMA nomination and prompted BBC Music Magazine to comment that ‘under Poppen, K. 262’s Kyrie bowls along at quite a lick, its counterpoint muscular and surprisingly bouncy.’ Vol. 2 (8.574417) also impressed: ‘Christoph Poppen leads a fine team of soloists, as well as the Cologne Radio Choir and the Cologne Chamber Orchestra … Lively tempi, light textures, and reserve characterise these small-scale, modern-instrument performances.’ (MusicWeb International) Vol. 3 now spotlights three masses written in Salzburg when Mozart was in his late teens and early twenties.
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756–1791)
Complete Masses, Vol. 3
Mass No. 7
‘Missa in honorem Sanctissimae Trinitatis’
Missa Brevis in D major 1
Missa Brevis in B flat major 2
Carolina Ullrich, Soprano 1, 2 • Elvira Bill, Alto 1, 2Patrick Grahl, Tenor 1, 2 • Dominik Köninger, Bass 1, 2
WDR Radio Choir • Cologne Chamber Orchestra
Christoph Poppen
The third volume of Mozart’s Masses focuses on works written in Salzburg when the composer was in his late teens and early twenties. The Missa in honorem Sanctissimae Trinitatis, a bright celebratory work, is the only Mass setting without soloists that Mozart composed. The Missa Brevis in D major is a compact, economic setting conforming to the Archbishop’s dictates for shorter works. Its companion, the Missa Brevis in B flat major, though keenly responsive and beautiful, upset church musicians because it utilised a Parisian gavotte in the ‘Dona nobis pacem’ and ended Mozart’s employment on a provocative note. Volume 1 in the series is on 8.574270, Volume 2 is on 8.574417.
Benedictus
Soprano
Alto
Tenor
Bass
Conductor
Symphony No. 6 Pathétique
Hamlet Overture-Fantasia
Deutsche Radio Philharmonie
Poppen
– AllMusic.com
– Fanfare
The Symphonies
Poppen
Deutsche Radio Philharmonie
Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Rubens • Mahnke • Prégardien
– Fanfare
– Classical CD Choice