This Sunday on Choral Concert we start our all-Bach month of April one day early with an extraordinary event: a truly stunning performance of J. S. Bach’s great Mass in B minor, recorded Saturday, March 23 in Toronto. It features the Elmer Iseler Singers and the Amadeus Choir with soloists Monica Whicher, Vicki St. Pierre, Lawrence Wiliford and Stephen Hegedus, all under the direction of Lydia Adams.
The Mass in B minor is one of those huge works. It’s huge in length, in grandeur, in emotional range, and in sheer creative genius. It is the culmination of a lifetime of extraordinary creativity, and this week’s performance is not to be missed.
CBC Music asked conductor Lydia Adams to tell us what she finds so exceptional about this Mass. Here is what she had to say:
For me, there is the towering majesty, the way it is put together, the whole vast and integrated architecture of the work. When you hear it for the first time the complexity of it hits you, so many different textures and colours yet there is also the sheer beauty and simplicity of the work, such achingly beautiful moments and then moments of such great joy — it just gets into your soul.
The great message of this work is right there at the beginning and then at the end — in the first and last movements: the opening Kyrie which means 'have mercy upon us' right to the ending which is 'dona nobis pacem' or 'give us peace.' What else could we possibly need?
Choral Concert, the "Mass in B minor" edition. Sunday, March 31, 2013, 9:00 - 11:00 am., (9:30 - 11:30 NT) on CBC Radio 2.
Related:
Listen to the B Minor Mass on Concerts on Demand
Listen to classical easter music 24/7
For broadcast listings go to the Choral Concert home page