Masaaki Suzuki - Mendelssohn :Symphony No.2 : Masaaki Suzuki / Bach Collegium Japan, Jone Martinez, Eri Sawae, Benjamin Bruns - Import SACD Hybrid

Credits:

Masaaki Suzuki

Description:

Masaaki Suzuki & Bach Collegium Japan Record Mendelssohn's Monumental Work for the First Time! On October 31, 2024, Reformation Day, Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ) performed Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2 "Hymn" at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, generating significant buzz. This album features recordings made during a three-day session preceding the concert. Mendelssohn holds significant importance for Masaaki Suzuki and BCJ as contemporary Bach performers; they have previously performed his cantatas and chorales, the major oratorios Elijah and Paulus, and the Mendelssohn edition of Bach's St. Matthew Passion. According to Suzuki's comments in the Opera City concert program, when he conducted the "Hymn" with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra in January 2023, he was "overwhelmed by its magnificence and immediately resolved to perform and record it with the BCJ." This project is the culmination of his passion, meticulous preparation, and the experience of performing German church music accumulated with the BCJ. "Ode to Joy" is designated Symphony No. 2 due to its publication order, but it is the fourth symphony composed chronologically and represents a work from Mendelssohn's mature period. Its structure—three instrumental movements (approximately 24 minutes on this recording) followed by a large-scale vocal movement (approximately 38 minutes on this recording)—evokes Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Given that it was commissioned as a large-scale oratorio, the richness of the cantata section after the introduction of the vocal parts is truly remarkable. The vocal forces comprise five soloists and a choir of 6/6/6/7 singers. The instrumental ensemble is large: strings (6/6/5/4/3), woodwinds (2 each), 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and organ. Joining BCJ's elite members are clarinetist Lorenzo Coppola, horn player Nobuharu Fukukawa, and trombonist Mayumi Shimizu. The first movement begins with the central theme resoundingly played in unison by the trombones. This is followed by the second movement, with its Mendelssohnian elegance, and the third movement, an "Adagio Religioso" (Religious Adagio) flowing with calm, crystalline lyricism. Entering the fourth movement, the theme from the first movement returns, transforming into a cantata led by a choir singing grandly, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." Through solo arias, recitatives, and choral sections, the strength of faith, gratitude, and praise to the Lord are sung. The precision and clarity of the unaccompanied choir in the first half of the chorale is uniquely BCJ. The organ, played magnificently by Yuto Suzuki at key moments, is also recorded with great effect. According to the website Discogs, no recordings of this piece exist with a period instrument orchestra, making this recording particularly significant in that regard. The "Hymn" was commissioned and composed to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Gutenberg's invention of movable type printing, which became a driving force for the spread of the Bible and the Reformation. The jacket features his portrait (stained glass) from the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. Released on SACD hybrid disc. Naxos Japan