Bruckner: Mass No. 2 in E minor

Judged to perfection, Jochum's mass series holds in exquisite balance the choral line, the perfect tempo and a keen feeling for the works' spiritual dimension - James Jolly, Gramophone 1000th issue

“Like Bruckner, Eugen Jochum came from a devout Catholic family and began his musical life as a church organist. He would have known the Mass texts more or less inside out, which explains why his readings focus not on the sung parts – which, for the most part, present the text in a relatively four-square fashion – but on the orchestral writing which, given the gloriously full-bodied playing of the Bavarian orchestra, so lusciously illuminates familiar words. He approaches the Masses with many of the same ideas he so eloquently propounds in his recordings of the symphonies and the music unfolds with a measured, almost relaxed pace which creates a sense of vast spaciousness. This can have its drawbacks: you can be so entranced by the beautifully moulded orchestral introduction to the Benedictus from the D minor Mass that the entry of a rather full-throated Marga Schiml comes as a rude interruption. DG's transfers are extraordinarily good – they really seem to have produced a sound which combines the warmth of the original LP with the clarity of detail we expect from CD.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Beautifully recorded as the Stuttgart singers are in the motets, they seem marginally more distant in the Mass…” Gramophone Magazine, September 2008

“Of the 'chamber-like' versions of this Mass, Polyphony trumps all others for beauty of tone. At the end of the Agnus, where the sopranos don't have bulk, they gleam. In the Benedictus, too, musical sense arises from transparency and intelligent shaping. The performances of the motets are excellent, too, painting nuanced pictures of these vocally and philosophically stratospheric pieces.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2007 *****

“The seven unaccompanied motets are absolute gems. An ethereal account of Ave Maria has a breadth and grandeur which belies its short time-span; as the vocal lines crowd in on each other, the effect is nothing short of electrifying. And popular as it is, if there has to be a ‘definitive’ interpretation on disc of Locus iste, this has to be it. Put it simply, we’re unlikely to hear choral singing as fine as this for a good few years to come” Gramophone Magazine

“Hyperion long ago paid signal service to Bruckner's mature settings of the Mass with recordings by Matthew Best's Corydon Singers of all three (see review of the F minor below). Interestingly, their 1985 recording of the E minor Mass has just been re-reissued on the budget Helios label, providing pretty powerful opposition to any new release, let alone one at full price. But while the Corydons were the choir parexcellence on Hyperion in the 1980s and '90s, the torch has been passed to Polyphony, whose sound is, if anything, even more smoothly rounded, more fully blended and more sumptuous.
In Stephen Layton, too, they have a director who is every bit as openly communicative, and while Best reveals the soul of Bruckner's sacred utterings more intensely, Layton (who also uses the 1882 version), produces such gorgeous sound from his singers that the overall listening experience is infinitely satisfying.
There's no doubt that the latest Hyperion recording, made in Ely Cathedral, has more presence and atmosphere than that made over 20 years earlier in St Alban's Church, Holborn.
That certainly helps produce an ideal balance between wind ensemble and singers, the delicate woodwind flutterings of the Benedictus providing a delicious undercurrent to the broad, spacious choral lines. The rare moments of climax are nicely restrained and never impinge on the overall calmness of Bruckner's setting.
Splendid as the performance of the Mass is, the seven unaccompanied motets which surround it on this disc are absolute gems. An ethereal account of Ave Maria has a breadth and grandeur which belies its short time-span; as the vocal lines crowd in on each other, the effect is nothing short of electrifying. And popular as it is, if there is to be a 'definitive' interpretation on disc of Locus iste, this has to be it. Put simply, we're unlikely to hear choral singing as fine as this for a good few years to come.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“...the sound they make is simply wonderful. This CD can't come recommended highly enough...The disc opens with "Ave Maria", and the ethereal performance is as near to perfect as you could imagine ever hearing.” Charlotte Gardner, bbc.co.uk, 13th December 2007

‘One of the most beautiful recordings of a choral masterpiece I have ever heard’ (The Sunday Times)

“Two trombone processionals and a suitably 'pious' Libera Me pave the way to an impeccably-groomed, powerfully realised account of the great wind-accompanied Mass.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2007 ****