When we think of Beethoven, Sacred Music might not be the first thing that comes to mind. Sacred music wasn't Beethoven's main interest,but he was a Catholic composer and what he did compose was, as we might expect, moving, powerful . . . and simply beautiful. His Missa Solemnis is from the same time period as his magnificent 9th Symphony, at which point he was almost completely deaf (which is to say he probably never actually heard a note of it). My only complaint about this particular performance, which is conducted by Leonard Bernstein and features some of the best operatic singers of the time, is that it is in a concert hall and not a church. No matter, the few minutes you take to listen to this magnificent Kyrie from one of the all-time greats will be abundantly rewarded.
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