William Christie, surprisingly perhaps, came to Bach’s Mass in B Minor comparatively late. His Proms performance with Les Arts Florissants was only the second time he has conducted the piece after having “digested and assimilated an awful lot of comment and scholarship”. What he offers is “an intensely personal interpretation” of what for many is the greatest, widest ranging and paradoxically most elusive of sacred works.
His interpretation, in fact, finely blends drama, reflection and clarity, though things also took a while to settle. The Kyrie wasn’t as arresting or authoritative as it could be. The string tone gradually got warmer after a dry-ish start. But both the work and Christie’s interpretation soon exerted their grip. There were wonderful moments of devotional introversion in the Gratias Agimus Tibi and the awed contemplation of the incarnation in the Creed. Et Resurrexit buzzed with excitement and elation. The Sanctus was at once measured and ecstatic.
Bach is never easy in the vast spaces of the Albert Hall, and just occasionally one wanted a bit more vocal and orchestral weight. But the choral polyphony was beautifully balanced and clear, while the orchestral textures were lucid yet at times strikingly sensuous: Christie’s Bach is anything but austere. Tim Mead dominated the solo quartet with singing of exceptional emotional depth and sincerity. Katherine Watson was the silver-toned soprano; Reinoud van Mechelen the elegant tenor and André Morsch the forthright baritone.
