New Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra, Otto Klemperer – Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (1965/2012) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

New Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra, Otto Klemperer – Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (1965/2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:19:20 minutes | 1,60 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Erato/Warner Classics

This is an ear-shattering performance of a masterpiece by the legendary composer Beethoven. His Missa Solemnis was written to inspire feelings of profound enlightenment executed brilliantly by this cast of exquisite musicians. Otto Klemperer built a formidable reputation as one of the greatest conductors of the twentieth century and he is joined by Elisabeth Soderstrom, Marga Hoffgen, Waldemar Kmentt, Martti Talvela and the New Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus. Klemperer’s command of the score and control of the orchestra is magnificent and the soloists display masterful virtuosity. Absolutely essential.

With no slight intended to the other great recordings of the Missa Solemnis in the world, there’s this one and then there are all the rest. Truly. Even with the 1940 Toscanini and the 1974 Böhm, this 1965 recording of Otto Klemperer and the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus embodies everything that’s great about the Missa Solemnis. And everything that’s great about late Beethoven is in the Missa Solemnis: the energy, the nobility, the strength, the vision, and — above all — the overwhelming sense that the numinous is imminent. Beethoven thought it was his best work and who could not agree? That’s what’s in Klemperer’s performance. His command of the score and control of the orchestra are complete, but it is Klemperer’s ability to take the musicians beyond themselves, to go beyond making music to be made music, and to incarnate Beethoven’s transcendent revelation in sound that puts this recording in a class of its own. Or rather, that puts it in the same exalted class as Klemperer’s German Requiem and St. Matthew Passion, the class of the sublime. EMI’s stereo sound was magnificent in its day and its remastering is ideal. –AllMusic Review by James Leonard

Tracklist:

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Missa solemnis, Op.123
1 Kyrie 9:26
Gloria
2 Gloria In Excelsis Deo 5:21
3 Qui Tollis 5:41
4 Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus 7:16
Credo
5 Credo In Unum Deum 4:17
6 Et Incarnatus Est 5:17
7 Et Resurrexit 11:06
Sanctus
8 Sanctus 5:29
9 Benedictus 10:19
Agnus Dei
10 Agnus Dei 6:03
11 Dona Nobis Pacem 9:10

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