Word: agnus
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (Soprano Anna Tomova-Sintow, Alto Patricia Payne, Tenor Robert Tear, Bass Robert Lloyd, London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Colin Davis conductor, Philips; 2 LPs). Under Davis, Beethoven's great Mass moves majestically from the solemn opening Kyrie to a troubled Agnus Dei, in which timpani and trumpets dramatically evoke man's troubled state, before the Mass ends on a serene note. The performance is both spiritually and musically intense, and the chorus sings like the heavenly hosts...
...knew I had him now--I could have recited the Agnus Dei, Confiteor, Kyrie Elaison and the entire 23rd Psalm if he asked. My faith was like a rock, as the bishop always used to tell us it had to be, and I was even going to confession in another month or so for spring cleaning. I didn't have a note from my pastor, but I still felt confident...
...soloists, unfortunately, were considerably less impressive than the choir. Both women soloists sang with wobbly gusto, though none too steady in pitch. Tenor Gartside sounded forced and dry while bass Hester, the best of the four, masterfully sang his solo at the beginning of the Agnus...
...work, a free-flowing Andante for the Christe, and a very lively Allegro vivace in the opening of the Gloria. He took the huge fugue, "in Gloria Dei Patris, Amen," at a breakneck speed which left the audience--and the singers--breathless at the intermission. The last movement, Agnus Dei, was extremely dramatic as the singers' supplications for "inward and outward peace" were interrupted by the trumpet calls of war. The several tempo transitions in this movement were managed smoothly and effectively...
Bernstein strode in to warm applause and immediately began conducting the mass. The music is a moving interplay of chorus and orchestra, ending with the words of the Agnus Dei, "grant us thy peace...