Classical review: Mozart Mass
Mozart Mass - City Halls, Glasgow
****
Milne’s place was taken by the highly-animated Ruby Hughes, who linked up with fellow soprano Elizabeth Watts, tenor Andrew Staples and baritone Stephan Loges as soloists in Mozart’s unfinished Mass in C minor, the main item on a programme that began with the weird ephemeral sound world of Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov and Mozart’s Symphony No 40.
There was an obvious logic in including the Silvestrov. He takes music by Mozart, diffuses it within a cloud of clustered harmonies, and wraps it in a wash of (eventually irritating) electronic noise – like listening to Mozart underwater with bad reception. Estonian conductor Olari Elts used it as a subliminal preamble to the symphony, segueing one into the other.
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Hide AdThe real Mozart was red-hot; Elts taking it briskly, but allowing every ounce of orchestral detail to surface with golden clarity and rich personality. The Mass was equally riveting; the SCO Chorus, if a little underpowered, matching the orchestra in lustre and precision, and complementing the theatrical expressiveness and individuality of the soloists with homogenous stability.
Seen on 04.04.14