If you feel that the lightweight st

If you feel that the lightweight string tone and hurried tempi of period instrument performances are too slight for such a grand work but don't fancy Klemperer or Karajan's leaden solemnity, try this modern-instrument version, the last of veteran conductor Robert Shaw's recordings of this piece. Soloists, choir and orchestra are in top form, the 1990 18-bit digital recording is spacious and Shaw's tempi are well-judged, though a bit slow by current performance practice. There is majesty in the slow numbers, joy in the Osannas and ethereal calm in the Agnus Dei. I'd have given it 5 stars if the tracks had been indexed more frequently: Disc 1 has only two tracks and the first two tracks on Disc 2 take up two-thirds of the disc. The long tracks are sub-indexed, but these days many CD players do not support this function.