The last of the great choral works to be heard at this year’s Proms was Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, given by more or less the same forces that performed it during the 2014 season. John Eliot Gardiner conducted his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir. Lucy Crowe was once again the soprano soloist, and only her fellows – mezzo Ann Hallenberg, tenor Giovanni Sala and bass William Thomas – were effectively new to the proceedings.
Gardiner’s interpretation – confrontational, vivid, fierce in its articulation and drama – has long been regarded as a thrilling, if radical alternative to the slow-moving, more reflective approach favoured by some performers, but here there was even greater intensity and immediacy than I remember in 2014. Hearing the work during a time of war in Europe sharpens the impact of its demands for peace and its evocation of militarism as emblematic of man’s rejection of God’s love and grandeur. Gardiner’s extremes of speed and dynamics seemed heightened on this occasion, invested with even greater urgency.
The Gloria, with its whirling string phrases, was fiery and ecstatic, the Credo assertive and unwavering, though time briefly stood still in its rapt contemplation of the mystery of Christ’s incarnation. The numinous Sanctus contrasted with the anguished Agnus Dei, in which the dogs of war are finally unleashed and remain a distant presence even as the work draws to its close. Gardiner’s emphasis on the prominence Beethoven accords the brass resulted in a tone of sombre majesty throughout, though grace and illumination were ever present in strings and woodwind.
The choral singing was outstanding in its fervour and commitment: electrifying in the Gloria, hushed and awed in the Sanctus. On occasion, however, some of the detail, orchestral as well as choral, vanished in the hall’s foggy acoustic at climactic moments; listeners on BBC Radio 3 may well have had clearer sound.
Of the soloists, Crowe shone, as one might expect. But it was Sala, making his Proms debut, who made the greatest impression, singing with extraordinary dignity and beauty of tone.
Available on BBC Sounds until 10 October. The BBC Proms continue until 10 September.
