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There are many movements in these 43 recordings which are well-played and well-sung, but are not included in my lists of the “best” movements simply because they do not meet my idiosyncratic criteria for how they should sound.
There are gorgeous soprano voices singing as if they have been betrayed in love and others sounding as if they were a flute or violin, but I want to hear an intimate “Christe eleison” and “Et incarnatus est” and a rambunctious “Laudamus te”.
There are lovely, smooth, listless ensembles, but I want to hear a battle in “Domine Deus” leading to reconciliation, followed by the voices of a happy family in “Quoniam” and “Benedictus”.
I want to hear vigorous, churchy, upbeat choruses, except for “Qui tollis”, which I want to sound painful and anguished and not like a dance. I want to hear clear, assertive voices and crisp melismas.
In the lists below, quotations are excerpts from my reviews (see Headings).
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