Tomas Dyntar asks:

>I intend to buy a recording of Beethoven's Missa solemnis.  I have heard
>about the Klemperer, Gardiner, Solti, Herreweghe versions but have not
>heard them.  Can you tell me what is your favourite account? That would
>help me a lot.  Thank you.

By far my favorite account is, believe it or not, Bernstein's first with
the NY Phil (on Sony/CBS).  Most conductors treat the work as a Profound
Inspiration, and their readings become rather ponderous.  To me, the most
important musical qualities in Beethoven are the sharpness of rhythm and
attack and the forward impulse of the musical "narrative." Bernstein,
although I don't think of him as a Beethoven conductor, has these qualities
in spades and emphasizes them in his first version (the second version
falls into the usual trap in a misguided attempt to tell us how profound
the music is).  It's a reading as exciting as Verdi's Requiem - dramatic,
full of jolting contrasts, and threatening at many points to fly apart
(which it never quite manages to do).

Steve Schwartz