“Pablo Heras-Casado made a strong impression as guest conductor of the SWR Symphony Orchestra in Stuttgart’s Liederhalle with a performance of Anton Bruckner’s Mass in F minor characterized by sharp contrasts.”
“Pablo Heras-Casado creates the opening as a monumental choral-symphonic chiaroscuro painting, with rhythmic drive and heavy timpani beats, sharp wind contrasts and magnificent tutti. Filled with unearthly splendor, flutes and oboes then play around the incarnation of Christ (“Et incarnatus est”), Kohlhepp’s light tenor is replaced by Rose’s muffled bass and a wind chorale which, after a moment of silence, is followed by the eruptive turmoil of “Et resurrexit”: Bruckner describes the immensity of the belief in resurrection in surreal colors, the orchestra and choir bring this to bear with tremendous force, and Heras-Casados intensifies the dramaturgy up to the final vision of the “resurrection of the dead”, whose euphoria of sound is accompanied by “Credo! “ cries from the soloists.”
Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung, Dietholf Zerweck, 22.03.25 (Stuttgart)
“…Pablo Heras-Casado once again impressively demonstrated his Bruckner expertise at the podium of the SWR Symphony Orchestra.”
“We witnessed a performance that was coherent down to the last detail, expressing the humility and the plea for mercy and peace as intensely and condensed as the unclouded, hymnal praise of God.”
“Excellent disposition all throughout”
“The masterful Heras-Casado had optimal conditions: an excellently disposed orchestra and a professional choir appropriate to the scope of the task, the SWR Vokalensemble (rehearsed by Benjamin Goodson) and the WDR Rundfunkchor (Paul Krämer) formed a homogeneous body of sound that could be used almost instrumentally, and the intimate and dynamic peaks were equally convincing.”
Badische Zeitung, Johannes Adam, 24.03.25 (Freiburg)
The mysteriously descending theme of the “Kyrie” was brought out vividly by the brilliantly scored SWR Symphonieorchester under the sensitive direction of Pablo Heras-Casado. The warmth of the strings was movingly successful, a conciliatory tone emerged, which was then glowingly led by the solo bass and soprano in the “Christe eleison”.
“(They) delicately played around the intimately performed “Gratias agimus” – and the “Qui tollis” was very movingly evoked. A pleading “miserere” sounded completely unsentimental. A magnificently played fugue formed the grandiose final section to the words “in gloria Dei patris amen”, the theme of which also returned majestically at the end of the “Agnus Dei”.
“In the Credo, which is taken very pictorially, some passages have an almost oratorical quality – such as the alternation of solo tenor (here he is again at last, the expressive former state opera singer Sebastian Kohlhepp!), female and male choir in the “Et incarnatus est” and “Et homo factus est”. The unaccompanied “passus, et sepultus est” has a strong effect and shows that the choirs can achieve good homogeneity in terms of articulation and timbre.“