Bernstein: Mass
While critics at the 1971 premiere found the work derivative and even  tasteless, audiences loved this ardent, resourceful, somewhat brazen, ultimately  movingTheatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers. Leonard  Bernstein's affinity for his public and for the age in which he lived enabled  him to successfully outfit his Mass with a stylish mix of contemporary and  ancient modes--rock, jazz, electronic music, Gregorian chant--and place it in a  context somewhere between Broadway and opera. Though it lacks the visual  component of a live performance, the work holds up well on this Bernstein-led  recording, the only complete version on disc. From the popular "Simple  Song" to the Stravinskian rhythmic devices and abundant, memorable  melodies, the vital creative force of Bernstein is never absent.--David  Vernier