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CANTATA SINGERS
MAJOR B MINOR


Bach’s Mass in B minor straddles many worlds without fitting comfortably into any of them. Composed at a time when sacred music was written chiefly for practical purposes, it outstrips the dimensions of 18th-century liturgical use. Here the staunchest of Lutheran composers felt compelled, for the first time, to set all the components of the Catholic Mass. And how to reconcile its awesome originality with the fact that most of its music is recycled, drawn from earlier works? Yet none of these tensions threatens the Mass’s exalted place in our culture — they only testify to its imposing universality and give it the sense that it transcends every temporal, spatial, or intellectual boundary we might throw up against it.

This monumental quality was brought out by the Cantata Singers under David Hoose in an admirable performance on Sunday at Jordan Hall. The recent trend in Bach performance has been to approximate the forces Bach himself would have had at his disposal, the result being smaller ensembles and (usually) a reduced emotional profile. It’s a tribute to chorus, ensemble, and conductor that they managed a near-ideal balance between weight and lucidity. The performance never lacked for power, but textures were transparent, and the lighter movements danced gracefully.

Much of the credit goes to Hoose, who had an uncanny sense of how to shape each of the big choral movements so that its architecture was clear. The opening Kyrie is a grave fugue that brings to mind the image of humanity weighed down by an impossibly heavy burden. Hoose made each entry of the fugue subject part of the ongoing drama, giving the whole a clear and precise form. If a movement sounded underpowered at the beginning — the second Kyrie or the closing "Dona nobis pacem" — he would patiently build to a high point in a way that made perfect musical sense. Hoose’s program note made much of the sheer emotion of Bach’s music, and though that was evident everywhere, the concert offered a feast for the intellect as well.

The choral singing was at the Cantata Singers’ now-routine high level. At its best, this chorus functions like an organism, each section knowing how to operate in relation to the whole. Only when the music was taken at breakneck speed (the "Cum Sancto Spiritu") were clarity and diction compromised. Among the soloists, soprano Karyl Ryczek and bass Mark Andrew Cleveland stood out, and baritone David Kravitz’s "Et in Spiritum Sanctum" was a highlight. Alto Gloria Raymond sounded lovely during the Agnus Dei but seemed to lose her place for a few bars toward the end. The orchestra played well, and there were outstanding solo turns from flutist Jacqueline Devoe and oboists Peggy Pearson and Jane Harrison. The trumpets, as always in Bach, did yeoman work.

BY DAVID WEININGER

Issue Date: May 16 - 22, 2003
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