Ivan's Blog

I have just acquired a new CD. “New” meaning in a CD format: it is a remastered version of a recording of the sixties: the Mass in B minor of Bach (“Messe in h-moll”, if you want the original title), with Otto Klemperer, A. Giebel, J. Baker, N. Gedda, H. Prey, F. Crass, The New Philharmonia Orchestra and the BBC Chorus. It was published in the EMI series “Great Recordings of the Century”. If you love this type music, get hold of it. It is, in my view, the most formidable recording there is of this Mass.

(I knew what I was buying: I had the original version when I was young in the sixties, and I knew every note of it… I actually had conflicts with our neighbours because I played it too loud. And my record simply became unplayable over the years. Ever since I have a CD player I wanted to find this recording.)