In 1733 Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a two movement, multi-section Missa Brevis as a failed job audition at the royal Saxon court in Dresden. Fourteen years later, he borrowed movements from other earlier works to fill out what we now know as the Mass in B Minor. The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, plus a starry line-up of soloists, took on this monument of western civilization this weekend in their performance of Bach's Mass. Music director Franz Welser-Möst led a performance that was notable not for being a full-throated blast, but for its restraint. Much of the choral singing was at the soft end of the dynamic range. The result was that the major climaxes – the Gloria in excelsis and, especially, the Et resurrexit choruses – stood in stark contrast to the often otherwise reined-in choral singing.
The Mass in B minor has landmines aplenty and, unfortunately, the usually excellent all-volunteer Cleveland Orchestra Chorus stumbled on one at the very beginning. After the opening choral statement of Kyrie eleison and the extended orchestral prelude, a seeming miscue caused the tenors to miss their entrance. Welser-Möst let things go on for a few more bars, but when it became clear that the damage was not going to heal itself, he took the only real option: he stopped the music and began again after a pause to let the audience's ears reset themselves. There were no major mishaps after that. The chorus, trained by Robert Porco, met the challenges both of the difficulty of the music itself, as well as Wesler-Möst's insistence on piano and pianissimo choral singing in much of the work. One can understand the desire for clarity and agility of choral sound to manage the complexity of Bach's counterpoint; but at times, especially in the passages sung by a semi-chorus, the choral tone was wispy and fragile-sounding (particularly in the et in terra pax section of the Gloria), robbing the sound of its "presence" and ability to balance against the orchestra.
Welser-Möst’s tempi were at times leisurely; others were brisk with a sense of urgency, but not rushed. The work was performed without intermission; in between the major sections there were significant pauses. The progress was inexorable until the final thrilling climax of the Dona nobis pacem, in which the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus was joined by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, singing from both sides of the dress circle section of the balcony. Despite being far away from the orchestra and main chorus, the young people were precisely together and sang with impeccable tone and blend.