Nikolaus Harnoncourt's final concerts at the Styriarte Festival Graz and the Salzburg Festival in June 2015 yielded this broadcast recording of Ludwig van Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in D major. Considered in light of the conductor's retirement in December 2015 and his death in March 2016, the reunion with his own period ensemble Concentus Musicus Wien gave the concerts a special valedictory feeling, and the recording assembled from these performances and some rehearsal material amounts to a testimonial to his life's work. ...
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Nikolaus Harnoncourt's final concerts at the Styriarte Festival Graz and the Salzburg Festival in June 2015 yielded this broadcast recording of Ludwig van Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in D major. Considered in light of the conductor's retirement in December 2015 and his death in March 2016, the reunion with his own period ensemble Concentus Musicus Wien gave the concerts a special valedictory feeling, and the recording assembled from these performances and some rehearsal material amounts to a testimonial to his life's work. The ensemble was joined by the Arnold Schoenberg Choir, along with a vocal quartet of soprano Laura Aikin, alto Bernarda Fink, tenor Johannes Chum, and bass Ruben Drole. The resultant recording of Missa Solemnis is coherent and more or less standard in tempos and sound, and a listener approaching this performance might have difficulty differentiating it from conventional renditions, because Harnoncourt's reverent pacing and expansive interpretation put it firmly in the traditional...
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