Simon Mayr Choir, Bayerischer Staatsopernchor, Concerto de Bassus & Franz Hauk - Donizetti & Mayr: Messa di gloria & Credo in D Major (2016) [CD-Rip]

With this 2016 Naxos release, choral conductor Franz Hauk presents a Messa di Gloria and Credo in D, constructed from movements by Gaetano Donizetti and his teacher, Johann Simon Mayr. Ostensibly, this project seems designed to create more exposure for Donizetti's sacred music, the bulk of which remains unperformed and unrecorded. Yet even though this 2014 performance by Hauk, the Simon Mayr Choir, Members of the Bavarian State Opera Chorus, and Concerto de Bassus is intriguing for its dramatic contrasts and operatic flair, some may be perplexed to find that the composite work is not an artifact of its time but a modern assemblage by Hauk: the Kyrie, Gloria, and an interpolated Ave Maria are Donizetti's, while the Credo was a partial collaboration and arrangement by Donizetti and Mayr, and the Sanctus and Agnus Dei were Mayr's own. This gives some idea of how Italian masses were sometimes put together in the 19th century, and the result is probably satisfactory for most listeners, particularly those of a musicological bent. However, this represents only a small fraction of Donizetti's output of approximately 150 choral works, and Hauk's specialization in Mayr's music suggests that this recording is equally a showcase for that composer. While both Donizetti and Mayr deserve Hauk's attention and Naxos' commitment, this hybrid mass may actually raise more questions of authorship than it answers, and interest for such an enterprise may be limited. -- Blair Sanderson