Bernstein's Mass review – meticulous take on a fascinating failure

Royal Festival Hall, London
Marin Alsop commands an army of performers including the National Youth Orchestra and a marching band as they tackle Bernstein’s uneven period piece

Leonard Bernstein’s Mass was neglected for many years after its 1971 premiere, when it opened Washington’s Kennedy Center. The neglect is now a thing of the past. This performance was at least its third professional outing in London in the last decade. The revival of interest tells us something about this ambitious piece’s enduring capacity to fascinate. But so does the earlier neglect. Mass is a problem piece for a reason.

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