Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Joseph Haydn - Great Mass in C minor; Te Deum (Ferenc Fricsay)

Information

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Joseph Haydn

1. (01-13) Mozart - Mass in C minor, K. 427 - "Große Messe"
2. (14)      Haydn - Te Deum in C major, Hob. XXIIIc/1

(01-13) Maria Stader, soprano
             Hertha Töpper, soprano
             Ernst Haefliger. tenor
             Ivan Sardi, bass
             Chor der St. Hedwig's-Kathedrale
(14)      NDR Chor; RIAS Kammerchor

Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Ferenc Fricsay, conductor

Date: 1959 (1-13), 1961 (14)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4636122

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 8

These performances, now 40-ish years old, are still delightfully fresh; and frankly, despite all of the scholarship that has gone on since and the subsequent recordings to come out of all that study, these remain at the top of the list. Ferenc Fricsay’s Classical sense was unbeatable and he leads with elegance, appropriate lightness, and weight (when needed), and commits no gaffs of overused rubato or other such “Romantic” ideas. This Mass is arguably Mozart’s greatest–left unfinished at his death, the edition used here is H.C. Robbins Landon’s 1956 reconstruction. The “Kyrie” has great piety, the “Gloria” exults. The “Quoniam” trio–a great show-off piece–practically dances. One might argue that the chorus and orchestra are a bit hefty, but Fricsay only plays on their heft when he wants to. The soloists are very fine, with Maria Stader’s perfect oratorio style and bright sound just right for her big solos. The Haydn Te Deum is presented in a live performance; this nine-minute piece is too little-known. It’s a joyous work from late in Haydn’s life (1800), beginning with what sounds like a college football fight-song and ending with a fabulous double-fugue–and it receives a rousing performance. This CD is a must-own. 

-- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mozart-Mass-No-18-Great-Minor/dp/B00004R7X3
http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Great-Mass-minor-Haydn/dp/B00004R7X3

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 in Salzburg – 5 December 1791 in Vienna) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. Till his death in Vienna, he composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. Mozart is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence is profound on subsequent Western art music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart

***

Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was a prominent and prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet". Haydn's work was central to the development of what came to be called sonata form. At the time of his death, aged 77, he was one of the most celebrated composers in Europe. Haydn was a friend and mentor of Mozart, a teacher of Beethoven, and the older brother of composer Michael Haydn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Haydn

***

Ferenc Fricsay (9 August 1914 – 20 February 1963) was a Hungarian conductor. Fricsay was born in Budapest and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ernst von Dohnányi, and Leo Weiner. He was known for his interpretations of the music of Mozart and Beethoven, as well as that of his teachers Bartók and Kodály. From the 1950s until his death, He spent much of his time in Germany as music director of the Bavarian State Opera (1956–1958) and as conductor of the RIAS Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Berlin Philharmonic, recorded for the Deutsche Grammophon record label.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferenc_Fricsay

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!