Marietta Simpson's full, rich contralto never degenerates into wobble. Victor Ledbetter's baritone can both ring out like a hero when called upon while tinged with the darker colors of a true bass. Shaw's choir is a lot better. Stryja's level of intensity rises just as high, however. Rattle surprised me with a curiously uninvolved, very well-played reading.
Nothing's wrong with it, but nothing goes particularly well, either.
Certainly, the radiance of the work burns at a lower level than in any of the other recordings. Forget the second. Forget as well Ozawa's totally clueless reading on DGG of both the Stabat Mater and the Gloria . Ozawa has done well by Poulenc, just not here. His soloist, though good, really doesn't match Goerke, with the true, clear, almost folk-like soprano voice Shaw favored.