The Compact Collection

Bach Mass in B Minor, Brahms 'A German Requiem', Hindemith 'When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd'

Putting on my Radio 3 CD Masters hat for a moment, I recently programmed two sequences of excerpts from Bach's St Matthew Passion, one recorded two years ago under Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Teldec), the other a 1939 live relay under Willem Mengelberg (Philips). Harnoncourt met with respectful silence, but Mengelberg prompted a storm of e-mails, calls and letters, most of them positive. Why? Probably because even with all the melodramatic gesturing, extreme tempos and outlandish rubato, you're engaged, drawn in.

When I listened to Westminster's new reissue of the B minor Mass, recorded almost exactly 20 years later by the forces of Vienna's Chamber Choir and State Opera Orchestra under Hermann Scherchen, my own reaction was similar. Yes, there are faults. But there are some wonderful moments. The opening Kyrie is so gentle, so devout and patient. "Et exspecto resurrectionem" is deliriously high-spirited and the "Sanctus" that follows an epic angelic visitation. And can there ever have been a more tender or expressive "Benedictus" than Scherchen's, where tenor Léopold Simoneau is accompanied by violinist Willy Boskovsky? The soprano Pierrette Alarie teams memorably with contralto Nan Merriman for "Et in unum Dominum", and only the bass, Gustav Neidlinger soundsout of his depth. Otherwise, Scherchen's B minor Mass takes its cue from the Spirit he was addressing.

But if you'd prefer a more temperate encounter, then Rafael Kubelik's live 1978 Munich relay of Brahms's A German Requiem is recommended. Where most conductors treat the second movement as a sort of Wagnerian transformation scene, Kubelik prefers clarity. His axis is lyrical and consolatory. And his singers are superb: soprano Edith Mathis, baritone Wolfgang Brendel and the forces of Bavarian Radio, recorded with warmth and a true sense of perspective.

You might say that Hindemith's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd – A Requiem for Those We Love – is a sort of 20th-century re-enactment of the Brahms Requiem. Both top the hour, time-wise; both employ a male and a female soloist, and both feature imposing fugues. The words are Whitman's, the creative prompt President Franklin D Roosevelt's death and the commissioning agent the conductor on Telarc's newly reissued 1986 recording, Robert Shaw. Hindemith's Requiem is a bold, confident score and a fine example of musical word painting. It is also superbly performed on this "creator" recording, where the soloists, baritone William Stone and the late mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani are fully in tune with the well-drilled Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Shaw's direction is all you'd expect: noble and intense.

Bach Mass in B Minor, soloists, Vienna Academy Choir, Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Hermann Scherchen Westminster 471 253-2 (two discs)

Brahms 'A German Requiem', soloists, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Rafael Kubelik Audité/Priory 95.492

Hindemith 'When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd', soloists, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/Robert Shaw Telarc CD-80132