Everything sacred
Wrapping up Diva November, Chris’s Cache offers two sacred works that couldn’t be more unalike.
We’ll hear Bach’s B-Minor Mass with a typically deluxe Herbert von Karajan “cast” headed by Kathleen Battle and Agnes Baltsa, paired with Arleen Augér in the title role (!) of Mayr’s San Luigi Gonzaga.
While it’s possible that Battle and Baltsa may have sung the Bach Mass earlier in their careers, I doubt they ever sang it again after this starry Salzburg Festival outing.
Johann Simon Mayr, best known for his Medea in Corinto, composed his oratorio sacra nearly 75 years after Bach completed his Mass. Mayr, though born in Germany, spent most of his life in Italy and is sometimes better know as Giovanni Simone Mayr. This shortish work for three soloists and chorus offers a rare opportunity to hear Augér and her co-stars Trudeliese Schmidt and Bernd Weikl (as the saint’s parents) perform florid bel canto-era music.
J. S. Bach: B-minor Mass
Kathleen Battle
Agnes Baltsa
Gösta Winbergh
José van Dam
Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
Salzburg Festival
27 August 1985
Mayr: San Luigi Gonzaga
San Luigi: Arleen Augér
Donna Marta: Trudeliese Schmidt
Don Ferrante: Bernd Weikl
Conductor: Günther Wich
Bavarian Radio
7 April 1974
Broadcast
Both works can be downloaded by clicking on the icon of a cloud with an arrow pointing downward on the audio player above and the resulting mp3 file will appear in your download directory.
After highlighting seventeen extraordinary divas this month, Chris’s Cache will take a needed short break.
Watch for a pair of all-Wagner installments next month.
Christopher Corwin
Christopher Corwin began writing for parterre box in 2011 under the pen name “DeCaffarrelli.” His work has also appeared in , The New York Times, Musical America, The Observer, San Francisco Classical Voice and BAMNotes. Like many, he came to opera via the Saturday Met Opera broadcasts which he began listening to at age 11. His particular enthusiasm is 17th and 18th century opera. Since 2015 he has curated the weekly podcast Trove Thursday on parterre box presenting live recordings.
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Topics: chris's cache
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People: Agnes Baltsa, Arleen Augér, Bernd Weikl, Gösta Winbergh, Herbert von Karajan, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Simon Mayr, José van Dam, Kathleen Battle
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Works: Mass in B minor, Medea in Corinto
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Places & Organizations: Bavarian Radio, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Salzburg Festival
