Hybrid-SACD

"... This is a greatly rewarding disc both on its own terms and as a follow up to Beethoven’s masterpiece."   ****

“…This is a fine performance of this ground-breaking work. The opening of the Credo and the Gloria find orchestra and chorus in incisive form. Susanna Hurrell and Catriona Morison lead the soloists in adding to the ethereal dimension. A vigorous account of the operatic overture is a great bonus. Excellent engineering.” ****

“… masterly, richly inventive Mass … The Credo and the Gloria (placed last!) blaze, the Sanctus and Benedictus (soprano solo and women’s chorus) are tender and beautiful.”

Performance ****      Recording *****

“… Oramo rises to the work’s ambition with a fiercely committed, highly persuasive reading that indulges generosity of scale and imagination while pinpointing the mass’s many felicities of detail. Abetted by a chorus and orchestra on incisive top form, the Credo’s opening packs a pugnacious punch… Catriona Morison floats the seraphic contours of the Sanctus with glorious poise. The Overture to The Wreckers supplies briny ballast.”

Classical Album of the Week

“…It’s gratifying to find it [Mass in D] getting the kind of recording it deserves from forces who can do justice to its ambition… The Wreckers, her best-known opera, makes for an excellent prelude… the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus are on excellent, sumptuous form, and this recording should win the mass many new fans.”  ****

“…This performance by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Sakari Oramo, is impressively rousing when its blood is up. The recording also captures Smyth and her musical army on the march in splendid sound.” ****

Recording of the Week

“… it’s [Mass in D] a magnificent, uplifting work that, while far too large for liturgical use, deserves to become a regular of the concert-hall and choral-society repertoire. An exhilarating musical experience, not soon to be forgotten.”