Bach Mass in B minor and Beethoven Symphony No. 5 concert. This title has two segments:
Segment 1 was recorded in 2005:
Bach Mass in B minor. Herbert Blomstedt conducts the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the GewandhausKammerchor Leipzig (Chorus Master Morten Schuld-Jensen) at the 2005 Leipzig Bach Festival. Soloists are Ruth Ziesak (soprano), Anna Larsson (contralto), Christoph Genz (tenor), and Dietrich Henschel (bass). Includes a bonus film Bach and his B minor Mass with Herbert Blomstedt. This segment was directed for TV by Michael Beyer and produced by Paul Smaczny.
Segment 2 was recorded in 1999 in Leipzig:
1. Bach Toccata & Fugue in D minor (Jürgen Wolf organ)
2. Bach Motet "Fürchte dich nicht" (Thomaner Chor with Chorus Master George Christoph Biller)
3. Bach Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor "Chaconne" (Victoria Mullova violin)
4. Mendelssohn Elias Op. 70 "Höre Israel" (Gewandhausorchester and Nancy Argenta soprano)
5. Mendelssohn "Fürchte dich nicht" from Elias (Gewandhausorchester and GewandhausKammerchor)
6. Beethoven Symphony No. 5. (Gewandhausorchester)
7. Bach Mass in B Minor "Dona Nobis Pacem" (Gewandhausorchester, GewandhausKammerchor, and Thomaner Chor)
Segment 2 was directed for TV by Bob Coles and produced by Paul Smaczny with Isabel Iturriagagoilita. Released 2012, has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
It’s April 2020. This title has a lot of older material that was cobbled together in an effort to honor Blomstedt, and it has been 8 years since it was released. This would be fine for a DVD — the question is whether these items benefit enough from HD TV to qualify for this website. We have not seen any review of this entire recording. However, Peter Quantrill, an expert print critic, gives thumbs up to Segment 1 here, the Bach Mass in B Minor (see February 2018 Gramophone at page 65) in a piece where he disapproves of an Accentus Records recording (ACC10415) of the Bach Mass in B Minor, also with Blomstedt conducting the Gewandthausorchester!
It’s not likely that we will ever have the time to review this questionable title ourselves. If you have seen this, we would be delighted to get your opinion whether this is good enough to stay on our website or should be excluded as legacy music. But for now, based on the Quantrill comment above, we plan to keep this posted.