,v-PL6553 ; Christmas Oratorio (a) 0 1 ,)00 01/2/3, (b) V.PL7713; Mass in B
y4,°," (a) C 33CX1121/2/3, (b) V.PL8063.
is markedly superior, and the instrumental colours are more warmly reproduced. There are some exceptions—the fascinating accom- paniment to the bass arioso Betrachie meine Seel, (No. 31) is very much more beautiful on OL, while in Mein tearer Reiland (No. 60) the Vox bass, who has sung most dolefully throughout, suddenly seems to find a new voice and wonderful lightness, quite surpass- ing the otherwise more pleasing bass. A reviewer may hesitate to recommend either one more strongly. Probably most listeners would agree that the choruses are the more important part of the work, and for them the Vox is to be preferred. And even those who do not wholly agree may, after comparing the two performances of the magaific,ent opening chorus Herr unser Herrseher and Lasser rots den nicht zerteilett (No. 54), where the Vox is most strikingly superior, reluc- tantly decide that the OL can never quite make up all those points. Much the same applies to the Christmas Oratorio, where the main exception is the chorus Fallt mii danken (No. 36), which is smoother on OL. But this is not Bach's most inspired work, and the adventurous, as well as the impecunious, may prefer an earlier and shorter setting of the nativity, Schiltz's Christmas Story, which goes on to one record, reviewed below. Of the two versions of the Mass, the Columbia can with hardly any reservation be recommended the more highly almost all round. The two teams of soloists are both uneven, but come out about equal. The difference lies in the choral singing, here even more important, and in the unity of the total conception. Vox uses a different choir for this, slightly less good than in the other two works, but even that would have met its match in the- brilliant, springy and superbly articulated singing on Columbia by the Society of the Friends of Music. Et resurrexit (No. 17) is perhaps the finest example. The credit is above all Karajan's, who again shows himself an interpreter of genius, with an infallible sense for the right tempo— compare his Kyrie (No. 3) with the very slow Vox, or on the other hand listen to his Agnus Del, which although sung in a much less beautiful or steady voice than on Vox, is, mainly by virtue of the almost unpre- cedentedly slow, but, as one at last realises, exactly and only right tempo, more expres- sive than probably many of us have ever heard it. The balance and finish of the performance, orchestral and choral, are beautifully smooth and the whole is per-
fectly shaped and held together. The one flaw is the difficult transition from adagio to vivace in the last section of the Credo, which defies even Karajan.
The names of those taking part in these performances, which, except for the Mass, are in German, and by German artists, are not given here, since they will not be generally familiar to listeners in this country. They are all adequate and some are very good. Altos seem hardest to find, so collectors will welcome a performance of a group of alto arias from these works and from the St. Matthew Passion by Kathleen Ferrier, with the LPO under Boult on D.LW5083. There is a similar Handel group (from Messiah, Samson, and Judas Maccabaeus) on D.LW5076.
Britten: A Ceremony of Carols/Copen- hagen Boys Choir/Woldike/Simon (harp)/ D.LW5071. An acceptable if not ideally clear performance of this enchanting work. Bruckner: Mass No. 3 in F minor/Gross- mann/V.PL7940. The powerful dramatic
treatment may come as a surprise to those who entertain the popular prejudices about Bruckner. His distinctive musical personality and his great technical mastery, generally least imagined as a likely virtue of his music, are well exemplified in the sustained melodic invention and the varied textures of this attractive work. The soloists are poor, but the performance is otherwise good.
Gregorian Chant: D.LXT2704/5/6/7/8. This set can only appeal to a few, some of whom, professionally connected with church music, will regard it as to some extent a work of reference. For aesthetic enjoyment it is probably rewarding only in small doses, and only for listeners of the most austere taste, in search of very subtle musical pleasure. They will find within its ten sides of pure unaccompanied melody, all seeming to a superficial hearer much the same, an immense variety that repays the listener in direct ratio to the concentration of his attention. A few true connoisseurs of singing may also value it for the sheer beauty of the performance, by the monks of Solesmes, conducted by Dom. J. Gajard.
Haydn: Organ Mass in E flat/Grossman/ V.PL7020. An agreeable work that does not essay the sublime and is not perhaps very deeply devout. The choral writing is not so interesting as the solos and ensembles, some of which, such as the fine Et incarnatus est, hint deceptively at an operatic talent. There is an important organ part, from which thc work takes its name.
Monteverdi: Vespers of 1610: (a) OL.50021/2, (b) V.PL7902. The choice between the two versions is here even more difficult than with the Bach works. OL uses a new edition by Leo Schrade, Vox mainly follows Redlich's. The one sticks as closely as possible to the original printed score, the other gives a fairly elaborate realisation of the continuo (here slightly toned down) in what Redlich considers the style of the period. Schrade's tempi arc considerably faster, and he includes two choruses omitted by Redlich. When the experts disagree so widely, how shall the ordinary listener choose? The faster tempi sometimes improve the flow of the music (notably in parts of the Magni- fica° and many may find this more accept- able. Equally many, though, may find the Vox more expressive. The performances are fairly evenly matched. The Vox women soloists are better (Nigra sum is much more beautifully phrased) but the men are not so good. Orchestrally the OL is slightly clearer and better balanced, without the excessive weight in the bass that makes the Vox plod at times. Having both versions, the reviewer does not have to choose. The reader, who does, must be left to it, unenvied.
Schiitz: The Christmas StoryIOL.50020. This is a remarkable precursor of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century oratorio style, with the narrative in the traditional tenor recitative, often musically more rewarding than the later very stylised
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