Wow, what a way to end the festival! This was my first time seeing Bach’s Mass in B minor live and in full. It is truly a work of enormous scale and impact. The performance was amazing as well, though I could nitpick it a little. In fact let me start with a couple complaints so that I can end with the moments that left me truly speechless.
First of all, while all the soloists were clearly world class, I wasn’t in love all of their sounds. The countertenor sang beautifully but for me his tone for me was a bit thin (hollow?). The Agnus Dei is such a heartwrenchingly mournful movement for me and considering that it leads into the Dona nobis pacem it’s a big moment that I didn’t really think delivered. I also wasn’t super convinced by the Christe eleison which I also felt lacked some richness in the solo voices.
I thought that this interpretation excelled more at the moments of exuberance, triumph, and grandiosity rather than the moments of contemplation and lamentation. For example, I really enjoyed in the Gloria in excelsis Deo and the Et resurrexit how the trumpets were and timpani’s were able to fill the huge acoustic of the church. I would say that for me the highlights were the Gratias agimus tibi and Dona nobis pacem. When the trumpets came in the first time in the Gratias agimus tibi, it was unlike any sound I had ever heard. For the Dona nobis pacem, I knew what to expect so I just closed my eyes and allowed myself to be transported. I forgot everything for the next three minutes. When I opened my eyes, for a moment, I had no idea where I was or what was going on, until slowly, I returned to reality. For me, no other music has that power. I think this is why Bach’s music matters to me and honestly it’s because of moments like these that I bother playing music at all at the end of the day.
