Stravinsky: Les Noces; Mass; Cantata [Hybrid SACD]

1	Les Noces III (The Weddin
2	Les Noces III (The Weddin
3	Les Noces III (The Weddin
4	Les Noces III (The Weddin
5	Mass, for chorus & double
6	Mass, for chorus & double
7	Mass, for chorus & double
8	Mass, for chorus & double
9	Mass, for chorus & double
10	Cantata, for 2 soloists,
11	Cantata, for 2 soloists,
12	Cantata, for 2 soloists,
13	Cantata, for 2 soloists,
14	Cantata, for 2 soloists,
15	Cantata, for 2 soloists,
16	Cantata, for 2 soloists,
Stravinsky: Les Noces; Mass; Cantata [Hybrid SACD]
1.	Les Noces III (The Wedding), ballet in 4 tableaux for vocal soloists, chorus, 4 pianos & percussion 24:38
	Composed by Igor Stravinsky
	Performed by RIAS-Kammerchor Berlin, Werner Matusch, Maxim Mikhailov, Carolyn Sampson, Vsevolod Grivnov, MusikFabrik and Susan Parry
	Conducted by Daniel Reuss
2.	Mass, for chorus & double wind quintet 17:44
	Composed by Igor Stravinsky
	Performed by Volker Arndt, RIAS-Kammerchor Berlin, Waltraud Heinrich, Clemens Heidrich, MusikFabrik, Joachim Buhrmann, Susanne Langner and Stephanie Petitlaurent
	Conducted by Daniel Reuss
3.	Cantata, for 2 soloists, female chorus & chamber orchestra 23:56
	Composed by Igor Stravinsky
	Performed by RIAS-Kammerchor Berlin, Carolyn Sampson, Jan Kobow and MusikFabrik
	Conducted by Daniel Reuss

All Music Guide

Frankly, my dear, it's too pretty -- and while Stravinsky's "Les Noces" is many things, it's not pretty. It's belligerently uncompromising in its abrasive choral writing, it's aggressively brilliant in its glittering score for four pianos and percussion, and it's powerfully propulsive in its driving polyrhythms. But it's not pretty -- and this performance by the RIAS-Kammerchor and MusikFabrik directed by Daniel Reuss is very, very pretty. There's a richness and a roundness to their choral singing, a polish and refinement to their piano and percussion playing, and a poise and stability to their rhythms that can best be described as pretty. Worst of all, there's none of the sheer ferociousness that is the hallmark of all great performances of "Les Noces." This performance is surely well sung and well played, but its ultimate affect is too sweet to be truly creditable. The performances here of Stravinsky's later "Mass" and "Cantate" are equally well executed but lack the sense of austere reserve that characterize the great performances of those works. Although Harmonia Mundi's 2006 super audio sound is much cleaner and deeper, the recordings of "Les Noces," the mass, and the cantatas to hear remain Stravinsky's own fierce and severe recordings from the '50s and '60s. James Leonard

Time Out New York

The crisp, energetic performance lives up to expectations, aided by crystal-clear sonics. Daniel Felsenfeld

San Francisco Chronicle

This welcome recording features vibrant performances of three Stravinsky choral works. Steven Winn

Dallas Morning News

[Grade: A-] Daniel Reuss and his forces outdo all previous performances of Les Noces, combining perfectly the requisite energy with split-second precision. Lawson Taitte

Newark Star-Ledger

The recording is warm, inviting a listener into the middle of the ceremony. Bradley Bambarger