Henschel is one of my FAVORITE basses, a real, substantial, heavyweight powerhouse, not a thin baritone lightweight; he really shines in Gardinier's Weihnactsoratorium (BWV 248) at the HerdeKirche with English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir, S McFadden, A Fink & T Genz.
Spiritu Sanctus, the center of this work is revealed in this part, all the energy and inspiration is based on the Holy Spirit becoming the Life giving Spirit for all of us to enjoy, the divine Life!!!
The Quoniam is almost one of the most difficult arias being that (imho) is best sung by a bass-baritone. I have listened to many versions of this aria and still I return to this version and the Nelson one, which Mr. Henschel sings the bass in both. This is a majestic aria and many times a soloist just cannot sing it or the soloist is drowned out by the orchestra or poor audio recording technique. Until I find something quite outstanding I'll stick with this one. The tempo is correct also.
If I had to pick two favorite parts of the Mass, they would no doubt be the Quoniam, with its majestic dialogue of bass and horn and its special place just preceding the Gloria's ultimate transcendence, and the Cum Sancto Spiritu, which, despite the centuries of incredible creations that follow from the likes of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Prokofiev, is possibly the most awesome, inspiring, and divine three minutes of music ever written. This version seems to be the only rival to Gardiner.
Absolutely.... it destroys the beauty of the counterpoint and harmonies. Far for majestic, it seems as the whole ensemble needs to go to the toilet, lol.
Yo tambien opino que esta version del Cum Sanctus Spiritus es muy rápida de tiempo pero a pesar de ello no se desfiguró los detalles contrapuntísticos de Bach gracias a la extraordinaria dirección de Blomsted
@gaemp I apologize for my bad english : "Quite the reverse, here, Bach did not try to write a mass, but rather an oratorio even an opera disguised as mass (it would be completely irrelevant to think that Bach, Protestant of his state had composed a catholic mass,moreover in Protestant Germany), so it is completely apposite to use the subtleties of the opera, virtuosity included."
@gaemp You're right : the beat of the conductor is very important for the musicians, but inasmuch as the beat of musicians is good, the average listener don't care about the conductor. You can't deny it !
@gaemp What I meant in my previous message is that Bach's mass in h minor is not a real mass but rather an oratorio. This tempo is perfectly right for an oratorio ! (for example Händel's "Messiah")
@LaPopliniere Sorry, I didn't write anything about Protestant or Catholic mass... probably you misunderstood. I just wrote about wrong tempo used by conductor.
@gaemp Tout au contraire, ici, Bach ne cherchait pas à écrire une messe, mais plutôt un oratorio voire un opéra déguisé en messe (il serait tout à fait idiot de penser que Bach, protestant de son état eût composée une messe catholique, dans une Allemagne protestante de surcroit), il est donc tout à fait à propos d'utiliser les artifices de l'opéra, virtuosité comprise. Quant à la battue du chef, qui s'en soucie ? Celles de l'orchestre et du chœur sont bonnes, que demander de plus.
I have to correct myself: conductor is a killer...!!! Tempo in Cum Sancto Spiritu is terribly fast. Bach never ask for stupid virtuosism. His way to conduct is also not clear beetwen 2° and 3° beat... it should be better to have a good metronome (with the right tempo) instead of someone like him...
