Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.5

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Blu-ray Movie Review

“From the heart—may it go to the heart!”

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 12, 2011

There is probably no more solemn occasions than anniversary markings of tragic events. The wounds of September 11, 2001 are so recent that the solemnity is often accompanied only by silent prayer and the occasional tolling of bells or reading of names of the deceased. But longer ago tragedies have had their occasions marked by ostensibly more “celebratory” fare, at least insofar as a requiem can be termed a celebration. The fire bombings of Dresden killed thousands of men, women and children over the course of two February days in 1945, ironically just a few weeks before the end of World War II, and since 1951 the Staatskapelle Dresden along with the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden have typically performed a requiem in honor of those who died in the tragedy. The concert is marked by an unusual silence. There is no opening clamor of applause greeting the conductor or soloists when they appear onstage, and the concerts traditionally end with a minute of absolute silence. That silence surrounds the music itself with a suitable gravitas and meditative aspect that only highlights the power of the music. Christian Thielemann made his debut with the Dresden Memorial Concert in 2003 with a much loved account of Brahms’ German Requiem, and his February 13, 2010 return to Dresden marked his performance of that other towering 19th century “B”’s Mass, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. While Beethoven’s piece is not a Requiem Mass in the traditional sense of the word, it is obviously grandiose, stately and suitably reflective in spirit, and the performance of it in Dresden at this sober occasion only seems to heighten its nobility.

Requiem Masses, often referred to as Masses of the Dead, are typically memorial affairs that seek to honor the deceased and are often performed at funerals. Many iconic composers have been drawn to the form, including Mozart, Brahms, Verdi, Faure, Britten and (one of my absolute favorites in the genre) Duruflé. The more generic Mass has also been a compositional favorite, essayed by everyone from Bach to Bernstein. While Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis falls within the confines of the more generic “mass” idiom, it certainly has the elegiac spirit, at least at times, of a requiem.

Though Beethoven “officially” composed the Missa Solemnis to mark the ascension of his friend, Archduke Rudolph of Austria, as Archbishop of Olmütz in Moravia, subtextually the mass is Beethoven’s response to the devastation caused by the Napoleonic Wars. That makes Beethoven’s pleas for peace in the Mass all the more touching, and obviously more relevant to the Dresden audience. This particular Dresden Memorial Concert was perhaps triply auspicious. It marked the 65th Memorial Concert, as well as the 25th anniversary of the reopening of Dresden’s vaunted Semperoper, a building that was virtually destroyed during the War and wasn’t rebuilt until 1985. But in attendance was Mikhail Gorbachev, recipient of the 2010 Dresden Peace Prize and the man many credit with the reunification of Germany.

Missa Solemnis is a work of almost frightening power, not a piece of restrained religiosity. That vigor and even ferocity is ably presented by Staatskapelle Dresden under the seemingly minimal conducting of Thielemann. Thielemann’s recent Blu-ray Beethoven cycle has been something of an international sensation (and rightly so), but here, perhaps due to the fact that he’s working with such an overwhelming number of musicians, he seems to take a step back as it were and simply let the music play itself out. This is not to say there isn’t firm direction and overall architecture, for there certainly is, but it seems to be almost more a situation of “group think” in this instance than something imposed from above.

It’s interesting to contrast Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Bach’s iconic Mass in B Minor. While Bach piece is part of that composer’s liturgical life, a large scale work the likes of which had never been heard before, Beethoven’s piece is rather an odd duck in his oeuvre, but one which is also as “unheard” of as Bach’s Mass was in its day. And isn’t it fascinating to note (no pun intended) that Beethoven frames his piece in the relative major—D—to Bach’s imposing Mass, as if to say “times have changed, and we can achieve salvation”? Even with the supposed major key, though, Beethoven’s Mass moves through a number of dark, minor tinged moments with cascading dominant seventh minor ninth chords that spill into unexpectedly lyrical major passages.

The Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden sounds magnificent in the choral passages here, with finely tuned dynamics and expressive phrasing. The soloists are all remarkable and offer impeccable accounts of some of Beethoven’s most challenging vocal music. Krassimira Stoyanova (soprano), Elina Garanca (mezzo), Michael Schade (tenor) and Franz-Josef Selig (bass) are all in stupendous voice, and Schade especially contributes some lustrous singing which is emotionally charged while languidly plangent.

Dresden has a long history with Missa Solemnis, having performed excerpts as early as Palm Sunday 1829, and then giving only the third full performance of the piece ten years later in 1839. That sense of history colors this performance, as well as the background of the Dresden fire bombing itself. Beethoven’s heartfelt and at times frenetic appeal to the better angels of mankind probably could not have found a more receptive audience, and though they refrained from applause at the end, the appreciation they felt was positively palpable.

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Missa Solemnis is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of C Major and Unitel Classica with a really nice looking AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. This is one of the sharpest and clearest looking concert Blu-rays in recent memory, with excellent fine detail and true and accurate looking colors. Black levels are rock solid and especially impressive, all the more so in that the entire chorus and orchestra is clad mostly in black and we don't get even a hint of crush in any of the proceedings. The Semperoper looks sumptuous throughout, camera coverage is first rate, and this certainly ranks as a worthy sibling to Thielemann's Beethoven Symphony cycle in terms of visual quality.

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Missa Solemnis is granted two reference quality lossless audio options, one in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and one in LPCM 2.0. This is one of the strongest recordings of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in terms of both performance and reproduction. Dynamic range is astoundingly broad here, bringing everything from those faint choral whispers to the commanding tutti openings of a couple of movements to the ears with equal precision. Fidelity is also brilliantly fulsome, with beautiful reproduction throughout all frequency ranges. The mix of the soloists with the orchestra and chorus is also superb, and the solo quartet moments blend gorgeously with the overall ambience of the orchestra to provide an amazing sonic experience. Hall ambience is also spot on, with a nicely sumptuous spatial aspect that really allows the music to breathe and emanate out into the soundfield.

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray, and that is certainly a shame. How wonderful it would have been to have had Thielemann explore this great piece with the same picayune finesse with which he goes over all nine of the symphonies in his recent Blu-ray Beethoven Symphony cycle. As I noted in the reviews of those pieces, the documentaries were just as much an integral part of the success of those releases as were the performances themselves, and it sure would have been great to have had something like them on this release.

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's almost instantaneously arresting to see Thielemann, Stoyanova, Garanca, Schade and Selig walk onto the stage of the Semperoper to the absolute lack of applause. It's only slightly less arresting to see the bald, purple splotched head of Mikhail Gorbachev popping up above one of the box rails. That feeling that something very special is happening only continues throughout this viscerally exciting concert. Thielemann has just released one of the most incredible Beethoven Symphony cycles in recent memory, and while his work here isn't quite as commanding (in the literal sense of the term), the performance is absolutely riveting and full of nuance and wonderful phrasing. The orchestra, chorus and especially the soloists sound magnificent in what is one of Beethoven's most awesomely challenging scores. With near impeccable video quality and absolutely reference quality audio, this is certainly a Blu-ray any Beethoven aficionado should scoop up post haste. But even those who haven't previously fully appreciated the majesty of Missa Solemnis may find themselves pleasantly surprised at the wonders in store for them in this awesome performance. Highly recommended.