The Missa in c K. 427 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a fascinating work. As it was not completed by Mozart, attempts were frequently made from the 19th century onwards to complete it and thus make it performable – with quite differing results. Now Frieder Bernius and Uwe Wolf have published a new edition of the Mozart mass which attempts to produce a performing version while maintaining the greatest respect for the available material, without obscuring Mozart’s musical manuscript. Whether it’s in the double-choir "Qui tollis" or the "Cum Sancto Spiritu" fugue, the choral singers are most certainly challenged, and yet the atmosphere of the work mustn’t be lost. If the blend of accuracy and shaping works, nobody, whether performer nor listener, will be able to resist the fascination of this work.
With Mozart’s “Missa in c” K. 427 the coach offers the voice part strongly emphasized. The coach is based on individual recorded parts sung by the Kammerchor Stuttgart, making practicing even more enjoyable!
The Carus Choir Coach offers choir singers the unique opportunity to study and learn their own, individual choral parts within the context of the sound of the entire choir and orchestra. For every vocal range a separate Audio CD or MP3 and download containing each choir part is available. The Carus Choir Coach is based on recorded interpretations by renowned artists who have performed the work from carefully prepared Carus Urtext editions. Each choir part is presented in three different versions:
- Original recording
- Coach: each part is accompanied by the piano, with the original recording sounding in the background
- Coach in slow mode: the tempo of the coach slows down to 70% of the original version – through this reduction passages can be learned more effectively.
Performers: Sarah Wegener (Soprano), Sophie Harmsen (Mezzosoprano), Colin Balzer (Tenore), Felix Rathgeber (Basso) – Kammerchor Stuttgart, Hofkapelle Stuttgart – Frieder Bernius
Contents
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Composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
| 1756-1791As the son of the deputy Kapellmeister to the Salzburg Prince-Archbishop, Mozart was constantly surrounded by church music in his youth. On his travels Mozart became familiar with Italian church music, and later in Vienna he studied the works of Bach and Handel. After moving to Vienna he was faced with the new challenges of composing opera and piano concertos, and significantly the “C Minor Mass” KV 427, the greatest sacred work of the first Vienna years, remained unfinished. The last period of his life again shows a change of direction to church music: Mozart successfully applied to succeed the terminally ill Leopold Hoffmann as Kapellmeister at St Stephen's Cathedral, but he was unable to take up the position as he died before Hoffmann. A gem such as the “Ave verum” KV 618 and the incomplete Requiem KV 626 give us an idea of what Mozart might have achieved as a composer of sacred music if he had taken up this important position. Personal details
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Arranger
Uwe Wolf
| 1961Uwe Wolf studied musicology, history, and historical ancillary science at Tübingen and Göttingen. After receiving his doctorate in 1991 he was a research assistant at the Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Institut in Göttingen. From 2004 he worked at the Bach-Archiv Leipzig. There he directed a both research departments, was substantially responsible for the redisigning of the Bach Museum, and he developed the digital Online-Projekt Bach. Since October 2011 he has been the Chief Editor at Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart. He has taught at various universities and also belongs to the editorial boards of several complete editions. Personal details
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Arranger
Frieder Bernius
| 1947Frieder Bernius’s work has earned great worldwide recognition. He is in demand internationally as a conductor and as a teacher. His principal artistic collaborators are the ensembles he founded himself, the Kammerchor Stuttgart, the Barockorchester Stuttgart, the Hofkapelle Stuttgart and the Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart. As a guest conductor, he has collaborated repeatedly with, for example, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester and the Streicherakademie Bozen. Great stylistic versatility is Frieder Bernius’s hallmark. Whether he conducts vocal works by Monteverdi, Bach, Händel, Mozart, Beethoven, Fauré and Ligeti, stage music by Mendelssohn or symphonies by Haydn, Burgmüller and Schubert, his work always aims for a sound that is at once unmistakably personal and at the same time oriented towards the original period sound ideal. He devotes himself equally to the rediscovery of 18th century operas and to first performances of contemporary compositions. He is particularly interested in the musical history of southwestern Germany. Carus-Verlag has awarded Frieder Bernius a Golden CD for his complete recording of the sacred music of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The award was presented to him during the German Choir Festival in Stuttgart 2016. The sale of over 250,000 recordings, which has been acclaimed with a number of awards, has made a not insignificant contribution to what today is the obvious presence of Mendelssohn's complete œuvre in the concert repertoire. Personal details
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Choir
Kammerchor Stuttgart
The Kammerchor Stuttgart is regarded as one of the best ensembles of its kind. Over its fifty-year existence, Frieder Bernius has developed the choir into an exceptional ensemble acclaimed by audiences and press alike. This has led to invitations for the choir to perform at all the important European festivals. In Germany the chamber choir performs at festivals and in concert halls in repertoire ranging from the 17th to the 21st century. Frieder Bernius and his ensemble have received numerous accolades for their contribution to new music. The Kammerchor Stuttgart has made over 80 CDs and LPs, numerous of which have been awarded international recording prizes (including the Edison award, Diapason d’or, Gramophone Choice, Classical Internet Award, International Classical Music Award, and German Record Critics’ Award prizes). The International Federation for Choral Music has invited the ensemble to sing at the 1st, 4th and 10th World Symposia on Choral Music in Vienna, Sydney and Seoul. Regular tours of North America and Asia since 1988 and a South America tour reflect the Kammerchor Stuttgart’s international reputation. Since 1984 the top ensemble has also been invited to Israel biennially. Personal details
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Ensemble
Hofkapelle Stuttgart
The Hofkapelle Stuttgart, founded in 2006 by Frieder Bernius to complement the Barockorchester Stuttgart, concentrates on repertoire from the 19th century performed on authentic instruments. One of its main focusses is the rediscovery of music-historical treasures, particularly works from the south-west German region (by composers such as Kalliwoda, Knecht and Holzbauer). The Hofkapelle and Barockorchester Stuttgart regularly perform at international festivals (Rome, Salzburg, Göttingen, Dresden, etc.). CDs made by both groups have received many awards: the Missa Dei Patris by Jan Dismas Zelenka was nominated for the Cannes Classical Award, and the Incidental Music to Shakespeare’s Ein Sommernachtstraum [A Midsummer Night’s Dream] by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was featured by Rondo magazine and awarded the Star of the Month prize by Fono Forum magazine. Mozart’s Requiem received the Diapason d’or de l’année 2003, Johann Gottlieb Naumann’s opera Aci e Galatea was named opera recording of the year in Opernwelt magazine and Bach’s Easter Oratorio included in the Quarterly Critics’ Choice of the German Record Critics’ Award. The group’s recording of Bach’s B Minor Mass was Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine. Personal details
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Conductor
Frieder Bernius
| 1947Frieder Bernius’s work has earned great worldwide recognition. He is in demand internationally as a conductor and as a teacher. His principal artistic collaborators are the ensembles he founded himself, the Kammerchor Stuttgart, the Barockorchester Stuttgart, the Hofkapelle Stuttgart and the Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart. As a guest conductor, he has collaborated repeatedly with, for example, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester and the Streicherakademie Bozen. Great stylistic versatility is Frieder Bernius’s hallmark. Whether he conducts vocal works by Monteverdi, Bach, Händel, Mozart, Beethoven, Fauré and Ligeti, stage music by Mendelssohn or symphonies by Haydn, Burgmüller and Schubert, his work always aims for a sound that is at once unmistakably personal and at the same time oriented towards the original period sound ideal. He devotes himself equally to the rediscovery of 18th century operas and to first performances of contemporary compositions. He is particularly interested in the musical history of southwestern Germany. Carus-Verlag has awarded Frieder Bernius a Golden CD for his complete recording of the sacred music of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The award was presented to him during the German Choir Festival in Stuttgart 2016. The sale of over 250,000 recordings, which has been acclaimed with a number of awards, has made a not insignificant contribution to what today is the obvious presence of Mendelssohn's complete œuvre in the concert repertoire. Personal details
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Soloist - soprano
Sarah Wegener
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Soloist - mezzo-soprano
Sophie Harmsen
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Soloist - tenor
Colin Balzer
Canadian born Colin Balzer studied singing with David Meek in Canada and Edith Wiens in Germany. He has participated in master classes given by Helmut Deutsch, Robert Tear, Elly Ameling, Brigitte Fassbaender and Christoph Prégardien. Colin Balzer has won a range of international prizes, and has embarked on a busy international concert schedule with a repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Penderecki. He has been heard at Festivals in Baden-Baden, Aix-en-Provence and at the Early Music Festivals in Boston and Vancouver, and he regularly performs with various Canadian orchestras. He has also enjoyed considerable success as a lieder singer. He recorded his first CD, Hugo Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch, with Hartmut Höll. Personal details
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Soloist - bass
Felix Rathgeber