Devotions for a world in a state of turmoil

By WILLIAM DART


To many, Leonard Bernstein's Mass is a sacrilegious monster of a work, a provocative "theatre piece" that outraged many when it opened the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in 1971. The Catholic liturgy may have been complete and accounted for but, interspersed between its texts, were so-called "tropes", secular and often wild outbursts reminding one that this was the age of the Vietnam War and Hair.

Bernstein the Mahlerian embraced the world of music as he knew it. Where the Austrian composer had brought cowbells and marching bands into his symphonies, Bernstein's Mass opened the floodgates, with blues, rock and kazooing choirboys. Stephen Schwartz of Godspell was enlisted as wordsmith.

Just when it seemed like the 1971 Bernstein recording would retain its monopoly in the catalogue, a new one arrives from conductor Kent Nagano, gathering the diverse talents of the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, Rundfunkchor Berlin and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin around the personable Jerry Hadley as the central Celebrant.

All the words I could spin in praise of Mass will not necessarily endear it to some listeners. Teeth may well clench when Hadley croons Sing God a Simple Song, especially bossa nova style, or when the rock singer rips into I Believe in God; others will be appalled by the Orff-over-easy of the Agnus Dei, or the cheesier moments of the Finale.

But the sheer chutzpah of the work cannot be denied, catching its composer in mid-life crisis at a time when the world seemed topsy-turvy. Today, Nagano's impassioned reading of Mass brings with it a chilling relevance.

Hadley is a smooth celebrant, although not as subtle as the younger Alan Titus in 1971, especially in Things Get Broken, Bernstein's blend of an operatic "mad scene" with the sort of histrionics familiar from American television drama.

Quibbles are minor, such as fruity-voiced boy sopranos and occasional manic tempos. But if you hanker for the days when one curled up for the evening with a boxed opera set, this double-set has your name on it.

* Bernstein, Mass (Harmonia Mundi HMC 901840)