Haydn: Missa Cellensis - Jommelli: Te Deum & Mass in D Major

“… The Haydn is a very fine performance in the old style. Orchestra and chorus are large by current standards, and the “name” soloists are led by a wonderful Lucia Popp… you will find wonderful music here… The two Jommelli pieces are wonderful as well… They are full of energy and display; active string writing and singing that shows an opera composer eager to impress. Under Hilary Griffiths the playing is nicely light and joyful. Among the excellent soloists I was most struck by Judy Berry and her high C-sharp!..”

“Great Haydn in a truly historic performance, not to be missed, with a fine coupling.”

“…Even without the visuals from the magnificent Ottobeuren Basilica, the 1982 Kubelik recording is wonderfully impressive… I know of no other recording of this Mass in which the music becomes as moving as in this live recording. Kubelik combines festivity with momentum and dynamics in an almost ideal way. The seventy-minute Mass with its half-hour Gloria lives from the nuances that the conductor brings out completely naturally. He thus leads the choir and orchestra to top performances with a sure hand. The contralto Doris Soffel impresses with exciting singing and a wide-stretched voice. The bass Kurt Moll also sings quite famously. The best performance comes from Lucia Popp, who ennobles the soprano part with her warm and luminous voice. Niccolo Jommelli’s D Major Mass and its ravishing Te Deum were written during his time at the court of Württemberg, before the composer went to Rome in 1749, where much of his sacred music was composed. The Prague recording was released by Orfeo back in 1997. The British conductor Hilary Griffiths makes a strong case for these two works, which do not stand up to comparison with Haydn’s Mass, but nevertheless sound splendid in these interpretations.” *****