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Fri, 28 Jan 2005

Messa di Gloria

Pietro Mascagni, Messa di Gloria
LP, Warner Fonit

Pietro Mascagni lived between 1862 and 1945 and is chiefly known for his Cavalieri Rusticana. If you were to look at the dates and have a guess that this might be a Bel Canto mass, you would be correct... in a way.

Masagni was influenced by the writings of Peter Lichtenthal, a friend of Mozart's son Karl. His views about how a mass should be presented were rather puritan -- not too much decoration, and understandability a must for the words.

The result here is richer than one might suspect and perhaps not totally in keeping with his beliefs. It is an operatic sort of mass, and with its swirls of instuments and dynamic range, quite Romantic as well. (Count K)

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