荘厳ミサ曲（ミサ・ソレムニス） Soustrot / Beethovenhalle Bonn.o

On this album the Beethoven Hall Orchestra turns to one of the most important compositions of the oratorio literature: Beethovens Missa solemnis. This recording conducted by Marc Soustrot with his customary fine touch features top-ranking international vocalists: the Czech Philharmonic Chorus of Brno, and renowned soloists. The Bonn composition genius himself had entitled his Missa solemnis A Little Choral Piece. Was it really Christian humility that led him to write in his diary: A little choral piece- written by me in the honor of the Almighty- the Eternal Infinite? Beethoven wrote the mass during what was for him a crazy period. Works regarded by him as insignificant met with storms of enthusiasm in Vienna, while he had to witness how his considerably more important Symphony No. 7 verged on failure. Beethoven withdrew from the compositional scene for quite some time, then to return in his late oeuvre with works transcending all that was usual: Symphony No. 9, Hammerklavier, and Missa solemnis. The choir is the real star of the recording: the singers effortlessly master the extremely high passages always supported by the precise playing orchestra. (Crescendo) Finely performed a deep, spacious recording of wide dynamic range with all forces nicely balanced. (Gramophone)