Basking in Bach

[kenjari]

Yesterday, I went to the Boston Cecilia performance of Bach's Mass in b minor. It was glorious. The singing was terrific - I especially adore mezzo Krista River. I also really liked Jessica Cooper, who has a beautiful soprano voice without the least bit of shrillness.
The chorus sounded a bit tentative at the very beginning of the Kyrie, but they quickly found their footing and the rest of the performance was great.
I also really liked the use of period instruments for the orchestra. The string instruments aren't that different from the modern versions, but the wind and brass instruments have noticeably different timbres. I really prefer the sound of the Baroque flute to its modern counterpart. The Baroque instrument has a rounder, softer, richer timbre.
I really like the Mass in b minor, too. It has tremendous charm and grace without losing any weight or profundity. The balance of ensemble sections to soloist sections is quite perfect, too. It's a beautifully structured piece - so much so that it's very difficult to remember that Bach sort of cobbled the Mass together. Many of the movements are revisions or borrowings from other pieces of his.

Comments

[woodwindy.livejournal.com]

I guess it goes without saying, but I adore the sound of Renaissance and Baroque flutes. You're right, it's a completely different quality of tone. When the band recorded our CD, we did one song with me switching between my maple Baroque and my blackwood Boehm-system, and you can absolutely tell which passages are which -- and that's just between two wooden flutes, much less a modern metal instrument and a period one.