Leonard Bernstein Mass at the Vatican City | Enrico Castiglione

Leonard Bernstein Mass at the Vatican City | Enrico Castiglione | Important for the visual

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	Leonard Bernstein Mass at the Vatican City Enrico Castiglione Kultur Video, 2004 average customer review:based on 20 reviews view larger image
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Originally commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to commemorate the memory of John K. Kennedy, Leonard Bernstein's Mass is an exhilarating religious and musical masterpiece. The work is a staggering example of musical eclecticism, mixing aspects of classical, pop, jazz, rock, and blues. Rarely performed due to the enormity of the production, Mass features more than two hundred performers among the large orchestra, a rock band, a blues band, 18 soloists, 80 chorus singers, and a company of 45 dancer-singers. This performance was staged at the Vatican as part of the Jubilee 2000 celebrations of the Roman Catholic Church.

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After years, available

I bought the original production of Bernstein's "Mass" on LP when issued. I still have it and the accompanying booklet and all the articles I saved. How I had wished it had been recorded. I was wary that this later production would not live up to my expectations, those shaped by an old memory. I was not disappointed. The singing, acting, staging, lighting, orchestra excellent. A fine job of blending large scale and intimate solos, all came off well. Very pleased.

Important for the visual

This DVD is important to see at least once for anyone who wants to appreciate Leonard Bernstein's "Mass", because as far as I've been able to determine it's the only available performance on video. "Mass" is a performance piece, and the visual aspect is crucial to understanding the work.

I'm not going to say it's a perfect visual. The production seems dated. It's good, but not great. Still, it's the only game in town, so I'm not going to complain about it a bit. I don't have ready access to live performances, so I'll have to make due with this one.

Musically as well, the performance is good. I'd say the original Bernstein disc is better, but this is a perfectly respectable recording. The weaknesses are those of a lot of live performance recordings. The acoustics of the hall don't seem great, and the microphoning of the singers and the orchestra is kind of clumsy at parts. I felt like I was listening to microphones instead of singers and musicians a few times.

The work itself is a bit dated as well, but (1) in a good way, and (2) all music is dated when you really think about it, whether it's Beethoven, Vivaldi or Pierre Boulez. "Mass" premiered in September 1971, about a month before "Jesus Christ Superstar" premiered on Broadway. Watching the DVD I thought of the inevitable parallels with JC Superstar, musically (less so) but importantly in terms of themes -- looking for God and meaning with the inimitable, sincere naivete of the early 1970s.

Watching the DVD this time, I also heard predecessor moments in the music to works as diverse as "Cats" and Osvaldo Golijov's "La Pasion Según San Marcos". Thematically, I also thought of the old 1960s-1980s television series "Insight".

This is a great work (especially the "Agnus Dei" and the finale, in my book). It completely deserves the attention it has recently received with the revival by Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony. I look forward to hearing that version, which I have not so far. But regardless of what audio recording we're talking about, listening to "Mass" is only half the experience. See it at least once, then go back to your favorite recording with fresh ears.

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A Theater Piece

Leonard Bernstein's "Mass"

A Theater Piece

Amos Lassen

I have long been a fan of Leonard Bernstein and was curious to see this DVD recording of his "Mass". I remember owning it on LP and having listened to it many, many times but I had never seen it performed. For me, as a Jewish man, I have always found the Catholic mass interesting and coupling that with Bernstein made this all the more interesting for me. Bernstein )a Jew Himself) combines the traditions and contemporary music in his "Mass" and we see a musical and theatrical clash that is quite powerful. Bernstein describes his work as a "Theater Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers" but in this recording there are no dancers. The concert that was recorded was staged for the Vatican's 2000 year celebration and was done so some 30 years after the original work was produced. What we get is musical brilliance with a clash of musical styles and contrasts of anxiety and hope. The score is a potpourri of classical, folk, rock, blues Broadway styles, and gospel, electronics and Hebrew prayer. There is a full orchestra and a kazoo ensemble and everything comes together as a feast for the ears.
"Mass" was originally commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as a way of commemorating her husband and it is a religious and musical experience "Mass" has more than 200 performers that include the orchestra, a rock band, 18 soloists, 80 members of the chorus and a 45 member company.
This is a concert production with little staging so a lot of the original is just not there but this is the only video available but the work is a masterpiece. What we really get is that Bernstein sees the Catholic church as it is. What else this version of "Mass" did for me was make me wish that the other recorded versions were available on DVD and I can only hope that there will be a Blu ray version coming soon.
Be warned--the blasphemy of the original is not here and the costumes are meager but the music says it all.

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Great production but DVD flawed

I ordered this because our local symphony recently performed it, but the diction of most of the singers was bad and you couldn't understand a lot of it. The singers on this DVD were wonderful and you could understand pretty much every word. However, there was a flaw on this DVD, so I will need to return it for a replacement.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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