Search - Mozart, Battle, Moll :: Great Mass in C

Excellent

12/01/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have four versions on this piece; Abbado, Herrewghe, Levine, and the new Christie recording. Levine's is by far the best with its excellent tempo and stellar soloists. In particular the tenor in Benedictus portion is better-paced than any of the other versions in which they all seem slower than the tempo of the orchestra."

Superior performance, great sound

Marvin L. Perrott | 11/19/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Levine leads a stately, robust performance with much more attention to phrasing, dynamics and orchestral clarity than is usual from him. The vivid but unexaggerated contributions of the horns and trumpets are especially welcome. The orchestra's playing and the choral singing are gorgeous and the soloists are quite decent. Best of all, DG's sound is open, clear and fairly lifelike; it is completely unlike the flat, boxy sound they so often inflict on the great orchestras they record. The old DG recording with Ferenc Fricsay was more propulsive and Maria Stader's ecstatic performance of all of the soprano solos was matchless, but the orchestral recording for this version was pretty dim. Levine's version is an excellent second choice and enjoys the best recorded sound I have ever heard for a classical choral work."