Ingela Bohlin (soprano), Ingeborg Danz (alto), Hans-Jörg Mammel (tenor) & Alfred Reiter (baritone)
RIAS Kammerchor & Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Philippe Herreweghe
The Mass in F minor, composed 1867-68, shortly after the First Symphony, was one of his first large works with orchestra. It is also the one which best lends itself to concert performance, divorced from a liturgical function. This Mass ushers in his output of the 1870s, a point of equilibrium between a secularised style, influenced by Wagnerian harmony, and the religious academicism of his early works.
“The music of Bruckner has long had a special meaning for me. During my childhood in Ghent, Bernard Haitink's Concertgebouw orchestra would come to the cathedral to play two Bruckner symphonies each year. Long before I ever thought of a career in music, I would sit motionless, awestruck by the way this music could fill the entire building, making it shine with sound. And although when I perform Bruckner, I may be using different instruments and interpreting the music in a different way, this is still the effect I am looking for…This is not music for channel-hoppers, or those in search of instant rewards. To deliver his music, you have to be a strong performer - whether you're a conductor like Celibidache or Karajan, or someone with a completely different musical background - like myself. And you also have to be a strong listener.” Philippe Herreweghe on Bruckner, major feature on his appearance at Edinburgh Festival, The Guardian, August 22nd
