The Spanish record label, Glossa, recently released the Mozart Requiem
conducted by Bruggen.  I have found other period instrument recordings
relatively "undernourished" be it Hogwood, Gardiner, Norrington, Christie,
etc.  They just don't bring out the power of the work to my satisfaction.
Actually, this does surprise me some as I have no similar opinion of period
instrument performances of Mozart's symphonies.

Bruggen's performance is also undernourished.  Further, his soloists are
nothing special.  One interesting item - Bruggen intersperses chant pieces
throughout the Requiem, but they did nothing to add to my enjoyment.

So, from my perspective, the priorites have not changed.  I can't fully
recommend any of the period instrument versions.  My top pick is Bohm on
DG closely followed by Scheirer(sp?) on Philips.

One last thing.  The Glossa packaging is attractive and convenient.
Two flaps open up the casing, and the booklet is housed in a little
kangaroo-type pocket.  Also, the booklet is not glued down.  I hate that
glued procuedure - always have to rip the booklet out to remove it from
the package.

Listening to a few versions of the Requiem, I'm still convinced that
Mozart's Great Mass is the better work.

Don Satz
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