The Voice of the Beloved: Daniel-Lesur, Martin & Messiaen
This is a radiant performance of Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir, bringing to mind the brightness of Gramophone’s 1998 Recording of the Year winner from James O’Donnell’s Westminster Cathedral Choir.
A more suitable comparative version comes from the Danish National Vocal Ensemble. The Netherlands ensemble, bigger and caught in a more reverberant acoustic, have the edge, with the Danish recording sounding more down-to-earth, more guarded and more liturgical.
Compare the way the Gloria cascades open with a sort of tumbling inevitability on the new recording, which is generally characterised by an almost constant bounce and verve, all sprung from the text.
The sense of a ‘mass’ of sound here is striking, achieved as much by skill from musicians as from those who have captured them.
Author's summary: Radiant performance of Frank Martin’s Mass.