I would avoid the all-too-obvious choices of Karajan and Bernstein, in any of their recorded incarnations. Pearlman and the Boston Baroque to my mind have the best HIP performance - and my current favorite. But I also believe it's a work that can take the weightier modern sound. Fruehbeck de Burgos and Davis with the LSO provide good baseline performances, but nothing mind-blowing. Shaw on Telarc has some great choral work, but I dislike the edition he used. It's one of those which try to improve Sussmayer. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I haven't heard it done yet. I've not heard any of the Walters, but they sure look intriguing. I haven't heard Solti either, but the guy is so maddeningly inconsistent, I wouldn't take a chance, and I've never heard it mentioned by anybody as one of the great recordings. Steve Schwartz