Idea
Following on from its hugely successful oratorio recordings for MDG, the Cologne Chamber Choir has now turned its attention to four of Mozart’s works from his years in Salzburg, all of them in technically stunning recordings: the Vesperae solennes de confessore K 339, the Missa solemnis K 337, the Epistle Sonata K 336 and the Regina coeli K 276 are performed with the sort of sonorities that would have been heard in Salzburg Cathedral at the end of the 18th century – never before has this fascinating world been opened up in your living room in such spectacular fullness of sound.

Plan
How has this been done? For the recording in the Holy Trinity Church in Cologne, the performers were placed on four galleries of a kind that no longer exist in Salzburg Cathedral. The space inside the church was altered in order to simulate as accurately as possible the sound world of the cathedral. The 2+2+2 multichannel recording makes it clear how listeners in Mozart’s day must have been shaken and astounded by the impact of the music winging down from such heights and over such a wide range.

Product
Clearly Mozart’s magnificent music is tailor-made for this occasion. All the music for this recording has been arranged in such a way as to reflect the original period in terms of the listener’s overall acoustic experience, with a detailed recreation of a great festive weekend in church, including the prayers said at Friday Vespers, an interpolated church sonata as a gradual and, of course, a Missa solemnisof Mozart’s own composition.

Prize
Among the various choirs active in Germany today, the thirty-strong Cologne Chamber Choir is one of the best. Since the time that it first began to appear at international competitions and festivals such as Arezzo, Viterbo, London and Milan under its chorus master Peter Neumann, its recordings have been awaited with tremendous interest: for its MDG recording of Masses by Schumann and Brahms, the Cologne Chamber Choir won the “Diapason d’Or” awarded by French record critics, while its series of Handel oratorios has been acclaimed as “Répertoire 10” and “Audiophile Reference”.

G. Fr. Händel: Saul HWV 53
MDG 332 0801-2 (3 CDs)

G. Fr. Händel: Susanna HWV 66
MDG 332 0945-2 (3 CDs)

G. Fr. Händel: Theodora HWV 68
CD:  MDG 332 1019-2 (3 CDs)
DVD-A: MDG 932 1019-5

G. Fr. Händel: Belshazzar HWV 61
MDG 332 1079-2 (3 CDs)

G. Fr. Händel: Athalia HWV 52
MDG 332 1276-2 (2 CDs)