NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT

JS Bach: Mass In B Minor

$19.97 CD

 The reissue of J.S. BACH: MASS IN B MINOR (DAS ALTE WERK) is part of the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the groundbreaking classical music label Das Alte Werk. The recording presents the legendary Austrian conductor and cellist Nikolaus Harnoncourt leading the Concentus Musicus Wein, the Chorus Viennensis and the Vienna Boy's Choir through a magnificent period instrument version of Bach's transcendent mass. Featured soloists include Rotraud Hansmann, Emiko Iiyama, Helen Watts, Kurt Equiluz and Max von Egmond. 

 Das Alte Werk was first launched in 1958 with the release of 7" discs of Gregorian chant and music by Machaut, followed by LPs of harpsichord sonatas by Scarlatti, Concerti grossi by Handel and Partitas for unaccompanied violin by Bach. The label gained a reputation for historically informed, high-quality recordings, and the subsequent signings of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen and Jaap Schröder ushered in a new era, one defined by the rediscovery of the authentic sound of period instruments and scholarly historic research into original sources, as well as the enthusiasm the label's young artists had for offering listeners new and fascinating musical experiences.  

 As interest in early music spread over the years and the canon grew, Das Alte Werk remained the touchstone by which other labels were judged. Its release of J.S. Bach: The Complete Sacred Cantatas, orchestrated by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt - and also newly reissued - is considered one of the most monumental achievements in the history of recorded music. 

Selection # 433468