As far as memory serves me, J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor has never been performed in Malta. It was a great coup for the second Valletta International Baroque Festival to include this magnificent work in this edition.
The choice of St John’s Co-Cathedral, that baroque temple par excellence, was the most obvious one, providing the ideal setting where this music could unfold. Such a prestigious setting had to go hand in hand with a prestigious music ensemble, and the latter was provided by The English Concert and its director Harry Bicket.
The vocal and orchestral elements, the latter using period instruments, counted a mere 40. It says a lot about directional prowess, how they could, most of the time, sound so grand – particularly in the joyous outbursts peppering the Gloria, Credo and Sanctus. The exultation of the combined chorus and orchestra was tangible and very exciting.
The softer, solemn contrasts were equally well-projected in Et Incarnatus Est in the Credo, and in various arias and duets throughout the Mass.
That, of course, left the soloists very much exposed, with little except their vocal resources to pull them through. The solo sopranos, Natalie Clifton Griffith and Rebecca Outram, did very well. So did male alto Timothy Travers Brown.
Tenor Nicholas Mulroy, who had sounded so much better in Handel’s Messiah three days earlier, was not as articulate and sometimes a little bit nasal. Maybe it was one of ‘those days’, but in bass Christopher Sheldrake’s case, the voice was unfortunately just not suitable, if this is always the way it was heard.
In the Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus from the Gloria, the voice was much too brittle. Although it was emphatic and with clear diction, it undermined authoritativeness. On the other hand, the other bass solo Et in Spiritum Sanctum, sung during the Credo by Michael Wallace, was warmly resonant and highly convincing.
The overall impression projected at St John’s made me conscious of the fact that this is really a great work
Mixed feelings prevail about the chorus. The soprano section took some time before they could really sing in a homogeneous way, while the tenors took a bit longer. Altos and basses sounded fine all the way. Eventually, as the work progressed from movement to movement, their unified and texturally compact sound provided the required results.
The various sections of the Mass were written at different times over a period of many years, and its length militates against a full liturgical performance. Yet, the overall impression projected at St John’s made me conscious of the fact that this is really a great work.
The last week of the festival continues with the following performances:
Tomorrow – Music from the Habsburg Court, featuring the Consilium Musicum Wien.
Tuesday – Max Emanuel Cencic and soprano Camille Poul perform with Les Cyclopes orchestra.
Wednesday – Coffee with Venus.
Thursday – German orchestra Die Kölner Akademie performs works by Rameau.
Friday – Simon Schembri directs the Ensemble Baroque de Toulouse.
Saturday – A concert by Camerata Galatea with Gillian Zammit and music by Prota, Handel, Festing and Telemann.
Sunday – Pianist Joanne Camilleri present In Bach’s Footsteps; Toi Toi presents the Lords and Masters Workshop; closing concert by Les Bougies Baroques.