The recording of Bach’s orchestral suites in my MP3 player is the one with Diego Fasolis and his orchestra I Barrochisti. This is why I’ve decided to take the train to see them perform Bach’s Mass in B minor with their go-to chorus, the Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera. Three weeks ago I saw the same piece in Schaffhausen with the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin with René Jacobs – and the difference between these performances are as big as the Alps.
Edith Wharton wrote that Catholics never write good ghost stories, for the supernatural is part of their daily lives. This might explain why the Northern European musicians have shown Bach’s Catholic mass as an almost theatrical event, powerfully expressive and deeply spiritual, while this evening performance seemed almost comfy in comparison. The opening Kyrie progressed in a relaxed rhythm, all sharp angles rounded and padded in almost legato-ish phrasing, the slurred groups of two notes “eh-eh” on the word “eleison” delivered in a graceful almost sprightly way. Things risked to be a bit predictable until the last number in the first part, Cum Sancto Spiritu, when the proceedings suddenly seemed almost too animated and a bit rough-edged.
The new atmosphere was nearly raised to sugar-rush level in the Credo section of the mass. The Radiotelevisione chorus is not the last word in terms of precision – sopranos and tenors were a tad flat now and then – and in these exhilarating tempi, melisme were often imprecise and a bit behind the beat. At some point they started to sound a bit tired and the whole performance began to sound like a difficult chore. After a pause where the chorus was repositioned and two or three extra choristers were brought in for the doubling in the Osanna, the evening finally settled into an exalted mood as if the whole point was showing that this is Bach’s monumental contribution to the choral repertoire. So it ended in a positive, emotional note.
I don’t think Bach has ever experienced a day as hot and humid as today in Lugano. And this can be tricky when you’re playing period instruments. The corno da caccia in the bass aria was particularly tricky, but one must acknowledge that the natural trumpets were far above average. The solos in the arias did not strike me as particularly inspired and often sounded in a different expressive word from some of the singers, who would go for something that could be described rather as “austere”. In any case, this was a good group of vocal soloists, who benefited from the very good acoustics in the LAC.
Replacing Hanna Herfurtner, Swiss soprano Marie Lys sang with ideal bell-toned purity and naturalness. Taking the second soprano solos, Italian mezzo Lucia Cirillo displayed an almost boy soprano clarity of tone in her low notes, but came across as rather straitjacketed in her intent of producing thoroughly straight tone.
I was eager to hear for the first time live two Austrian singers who have come to attention in their recordings with the J.S. Bach-Stiftung. Contralto Margot Oitzinger can be considered a Bach specialist whose hallmark is her extremely economical use of chest resonance. Her bottom register has an almost pop sound that carries reasonably in the auditorium. While it would have been exciting to hear the full color of her voice, her almost instrumental purity of sound, long breath and absence of affectation are praiseworthy. While most singers try to produce an ecstatic impression in the Agnus Dei, Ms. Oitinger sang it probably as it should – as a plea for redemption. Since I first saw Bernhardt Bechtold on YouTube, I have found him the example of how tenors should sing Bach. He is no tenorino. His voice has some volume, what allows him to sing lightly without worrying about being heard in a larger hall. And his tenor is so perfectly focused that he never has to resort to falsetto to reach high notes. His middle register has a pleasant color too. I wouldn’t say he was at his best voice today, but he sang impeccably nonetheless.
Last but not least, there was the Bach bass of choice in the 2000’s Klaus Mertens, now a veteran and something of a living national treasure in Germany. The voice is still very much firm, a bit less resonant in the lower reaches and less smooth now and then. And yet the authority, the sense of style, the flexibility and the love for this music are still all there.
I HEAR VOICES 
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