Die Schöpfung & Harmoniemesse (Leonard Bernstein recording)

Joseph Haydn portrayed by Thomas Hardy in 1791

Alec Robertson reviewed Die Schöpfung on LP in Gramophone in January 1969, comparing Bernstein's recording with what he considered to be the best of its predecessors, a 1968 Decca album conducted by Karl Münchinger.[2] In the work's Introduction, Haydn's depiction of the world's primordial chaos, Münchinger, he wrote, offered "mystery and awe", Bernstein drama and colour. In Bernstein's recording, "God was not so much moving over the face of the water as being moved", driven across it by the conductor. This contrast between Münchinger's and Bernstein's approaches continued when the archangel Raphael began his narration. Where Münchinger's Tom Krause sang "in hushed tones", Bernstein's John Reardon sang "loudly, and so [destroyed] the atmosphere just created". Matters improved on Bernstein's album when Alexander Young delivered Uriel's "Now vanish before the holy beams", Bernstein laudably animating a "rhythmic vitality... admirably suited to this work". Young's virile singing and the more lyrical performance of Münchinger's Werner Krenn were both enjoyable in their own way. As the soprano archangel, Gabriel, Münchinger's Elly Ameling was unequivocally better than Bernstein's Judith Raskin, with "more variation of tone" and "more sensitive feeling" than the American. The albums' rival choirs and orchestras all had much to commend them. Bernstein's Camerata Singers sang with "great enjoyment and excellent tone"; Münchinger's Vienna State Opera Chorus with superior diction. Similarly, where Bernstein's New York Philharmonic provided "finely pointed orchestral detail", Münchinger's Vienna Philharmonic had a string section that the Americans could not equal. Bernstein's album was better engineered than Münchinger's, offering "bright recording", "great clarity" and "excellent balance". In sum, though, even if Bernstein's release gave "considerable pleasure and [had] a great deal to recommend it", Münchinger's version was the more desirable of the two overall.[3]

Eugène Delacroix's painting (circa 1826) of the elderly, blind John Milton dictating Paradise Lost to his daughters

Richard Freed reviewed the Harmoniemesse on LP in Stereo Review in September 1975. "There can be few scores of any kind", he wrote, "whose vigour, joy and unlaboured exaltation find so close a parallel in the characteristics of Bernstein's music-making." All four vocal soloists sang well, particularly Frederica von Stade in the Gloria's "Gratias agimus tibi" and Judith Blegen in the Credo's "Et incarnatus est". The chorus was no less impressive, if it could perhaps have sung even more lustily than it did. The New York Philharmonic, sometimes disappointing with other conductors, was on its best form for Bernstein. The recording quality was variable, but mostly satisfactory. "One hesitates to overwork such words as 'inspiration' and 'glory'," Freed concluded, "but these are the qualities that shine from every bar of this beautiful performance."[4]

Roger Fiske reviewed the Harmoniemesse on LP in Gramophone in December 1975, comparing it with an Argo disc of the Mass conducted by George Guest and released in 1966.[5] Bernstein's soloists, he thought, sounded as though they were "behind the orchestra and in amongst the chorus", Guest's as though they were standing much closer. Bernstein's arrangement was possibly in accord with the custom of Haydn's own day, but seemed to deny his soloists as much scope for self-expression as had been enjoyed by Guest's. Bernstein's chorus itself was "of the highest class", as was his orchestra, which demonstrated its virtuosity by coping with the breakneck pace that he had adopted, perhaps unwisely, for the end of the "Agnus Dei". The audio quality of his disc was fairly good, even if his balance engineer had allowed his woodwinds to "occasionally sound unnaturally prominent". Bernstein's was "a strong, vivid performance", but, although there was little to choose between the two discs, Guest's was the better both technologically and musically.[6]

Vienna's Palais Schwarzenberg, where Die Schöpfung was first performed in 1798

David S. Gutman reviewed Die Schöpfung and the Harmoniemesse coupled on CD in Gramophone in May 1993. Bernstein's Die Schöpfung, he thought, was among the conductor's better essays in Haydn. Yes, the solo singing was problematic, and Judith Raskin had been "much criticized for her inadequate German". Yes, Bernstein's tempi were sometimes unorthodox. And yes, some numbers were hammy. But "the basic impression made [was] brisk and taut". As for the Harmoniemesse, "featuring some big-name soloists", it was "exciting (if rough-and-ready)". The album as a whole was "well worth considering".[7]

The Bergkirche – also known as the Haydnkirche – in Eisenstadt, Vienna, where the Harmoniemesse was first performed and where Haydn was entombed

Geraint Lewis included the album in a survey of the Harmoniemesse discography in Gramophone in April 2014. He made little mention of the soloists, noting only a "richly operatic contribution from a youthful Frederica von Stade". He found Joseph Flummerfelt's Westminster Choir "painfully stretched", and thought that their "democratic choral-society gusto" was not ideally suited to music meticulously crafted for performance during a religious service. He was happier with the relish that the orchestra displayed while delivering "big-boned Haydn in every sense". He characterized Bernstein's conducting as "galvanizing". "He clearly enjoys the music unreservedly and propels it forward with insight and enthusiasm", he wrote. His final verdict was that "the essential greatness of the music is not seriously compromised on this recording." [8]

In the September 1975 issue of Stereo Review, Harmoniemesse was included in the magazine's list of the "Best Recordings of the Month".[4]

Die Schöpfung

• Judith Raskin (1928–1984, soprano), Gabriel and Eva
• Alexander Young (1920–2000, tenor), Uriel
• John Reardon (baritone), Raphael and Adam
• Bruce Prince-Joseph, harpsichord continuo
• Bernard Altmann, cello continuo
• Camerata Singers
• Abraham Kaplan, chorus director
• New York Philharmonic
• Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990), conductor

Harmoniemesse

• Judith Blegen, soprano
• Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano
• Kenneth Riegel, tenor
• Simon Estes, bass
• Westminster Choir
• Joseph Flummerfelt, chorus director
• New York Philharmonic
• Leonard Bernstein, conductor[1]

• Thomas Z. Shepard, producer of Die Schöpfung and producer of the CDs' 20-bit remix
• John McClure, producer of the Harmoniemesse
• Francis Pierce, remastering engineer[1]