Dunedin Consort & Players / John Butt JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Mass in B Minor

Linn Records' recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor is the first to utilize the revised Joshua Rifkin edition published by Breitkopf and Härtel in 2006. This is a refinement of the 1980s version in which Rifkin pared the instrumentation of the mass down to its barest essentials and rendered the chorus as a one-to-a-part vocal ensemble, and while the texture is a tad fuller here than on the radically skimpy recording made for Nonesuch at that time, it's still pretty minimal, especially in comparison to versions utilizing more traditional forces. This SACD recording by the Dunedin Consort and Players, led by John Butt -- who have enjoyed considerable critical acclaim for their 2007 recording of the Dublin version of Handel's Messiah -- utilizes just 10 singers and a band barely the size of a chamber orchestra. This approach definitely benefits the voices, and these are good singers, though there are no standout performances. Indeed, this recording is at its best in the ensembles, such as "Et resurrexit," "Et expecto," and "Laudamus te," where the flexibility of the small group raises the rhythmic profile of the music to a pitch of excitement and intensity that can be quite engaging. On the other hand, the heft and power that a traditional ensemble can bring to the Mass in B minor is noticeably lacking here and this set will not satisfy listeners for whom a large orchestral/choral rendering is the only viable option for Bach's last great choral work. However, Linn's SACD recording is spectacularly clear and solid and the orchestral playing is terrific; were that the solo singers were more distinctive and memorable in their star turns, then this would be just about perfect for a small potatoes Mass in B minor. (Uncle Dave Lewis)

Nuria Rial / Margot Oitzinger HAYDN Arie per un'Amante

The title of this album comes from the fact that Haydn wrote most of these insertion arias (arias written to show off the special talents of a singer in a particular production, and substituted for the arias by the opera's composer) for his lover, Italian soprano Luigia Polzelli. Thank goodness these delightful arias have survived, although the operas into which they were originally inserted, by composers like Pasquale Anfossi, Alessandro Guglielmi, and Francesco Bianchi, are forgotten. Haydn's inventiveness and benevolence overflow in this charming music. If there is any criticism of this assortment of arias, it's that they are all relentlessly cheerful and sprightly, and all in major keys, even those with texts like, "Unhappy and unfortunate I am…." While not all these arias reveal Haydn at his most dramatically astute, they find him at his most genial. One of the arias, La moglie quando è buona, is in fact laugh-out-loud funny. Spanish soprano Núria Rial and Austrian mezzo-soprano Margot Oitzinger divide the arias. Their voices are well matched: exceptionally pure, supple, and focused, with an unmannered, effortless sounding delivery and immaculate technique. In only one aria, Infelice sventurata, in an unmercifully low passage, does Rial show any strain. Michi Gaigg leads L'Orfeo Barockorchester in a sparkling, beautifully blended accompaniment. The sound is warm and spacious, but always clear and clean. (Stephen Eddins)