Thomas Hengelbrock, Balthasar Neumann Choir & Orchestra

A composition born of deep emotion, encompassing everything, embracing all people, which went beyond the bounds of what had gone before: this is how Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the "Ode to Joy" can be described, just like his monumental Missa solemnis, which had been completed shortly before. The composer himself described this unearthly composition as his "greatest work", the creation of which was initially linked to a very tangible wish: for the enthronement of Archduke Rudolph as Archbishop of Olomouc, the patron was to receive a "Missa solemnis", a work whose solemn occasion is also made tangible by festive, representative sounds with timpani and trumpets. However, Beethoven was unable to complete it in time - the project led the composer to question his own faith too deeply, the ambition to create something that could stand alongside the model of Bach's Mass in B minor was too great and the dimensions of the undertaking were too colossal. It is therefore understandable that the composer himself refrained from tying it to a church setting and offered the mass to Goethe, for example, with the suggestion that it could be performed as an oratorio on concert stages.

Performing at the nexus of church and concert hall is one of the special disciplines of the Balthasar Neumann orchestra, which has been a guarantee for great moments in the concert calendar of its founding city of Freiburg for many years. Under the direction of its founder Thomas Hengelbrock, the orchestra takes on the immense demands that Beethoven's monumental work places on its performers. Reinforced by a top-class quartet of soloists, they will explore the dramatic and spiritual topography of Beethoven's late work at the Freiburg Konzerthaus.

Program:
Beethoven, Missa solemnis in D major op. 123

Regula Mühlemann, soprano
Eva Zaïcik, alto
Julian Prégardien, tenor
Domen Kri?aj, bass

Balthasar Neumann Choir
Balthasar Neumann Orchestra
Thomas Hengelbrock, conductor

Thomas Hengelbrock | Photo © Mina Esfandiari