John Parker wrote:
>I replaced my St. Matthew Passion, a boring truncated version conducted
>by Furtwangler, with one conducted by Rilling and I was enthralled. Am I
>likely to have such an experience with this version of the Mass in B Minor?
You might think I'm going to criticize Rilling and his modern instrument
accounts of Bach. Wrong. I've heard some of both recordings, and Rilling
strikes me as having a similar approach to both works. So, the answer is
*yes*.
>I have Gardiner's version and I have always found it disappointing,
>especially for a piece of music that once was praised as the greatest work
>of all ages. Bloodless is a term that comes to mind.
I wouldn't agree, but I could understand "bloodless" being applied to
Gardiner's Mozart symphony recordings. I can't comprehend at all these
type of comments concerning Gardiner's/Bach's Mass in B minor. It's an
exhilarating performance - I get hyped up just thinking about it.
Don Satz
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