Mozart: Mass in C Minor
Ana Maria Labin (soprano), Ambroisine Bré (mezzo-soprano), Stanislas de Barbeyrac (tenor), Norman Patzke (baritone), Les Musiciens du Louvre, Marc Minkowski
Minkowski deploys a period orchestra of 38 players, including three sonorous trombones, and a small chorus of just nine voices but supplemented by a well-balanced solo group of five, among whom...
Mozart: Mass in C Minor
Ana Maria Labin (soprano), Ambroisine Bré (mezzo-soprano), Stanislas de Barbeyrac (tenor), Norman Patzke (baritone), Les Musiciens du Louvre, Marc Minkowski
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Minkowski deploys a period orchestra of 38 players, including three sonorous trombones, and a small chorus of just nine voices but supplemented by a well-balanced solo group of five, among whom...
About
Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre present a new recording of Mozart's Mass in C Minor, the iconic opening Kyrie of which is among the most cherished religious music ever written. Mozart performed parts of the Mass in 1783, but the score remained unfinished, making the use of a scholarly edition necessary for a complete performance. Despite its unfinished state, Mozart's Mass in C Minor has gained popularity and now enjoys a place in the choral core repertory. For this recording, made in connection to live performances, Minkowski has chosen Helmut Eder's 1985 edition for the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe. He performs it in a chamber-like setting with his regular ensemble Les Musiciens du Louvre, a small ripieno choir and four outstanding soloists: Ana Maria Labin, Ambroisine Bré, Stanislas de Barbeyrac and Norman Patzke.
Since its foundation in 1982, and under the baton of its founder and musical director Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre have developed into one of the world's best period-instrument ensembles, with a vast discography. This recording marks their PENTATONE debut.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
September 2020
Minkowski deploys a period orchestra of 38 players, including three sonorous trombones, and a small chorus of just nine voices but supplemented by a well-balanced solo group of five, among whom Ana Maria Labin is especially limpid in the ‘Et incarnatus est’. Minkowski is a little ponderous in the opening Kyrie for Mozart’s marking of Andante moderato, but in general this is a fine expressive account, clearly recorded.
19th July 2020
Although using period instruments and a tiny choir of 11 ripieno singers — who excel in the Handelian exigencies of the Qui tollis and Cum Sancto Spiritu — Minkowski conducts a grand, big-boned account.