Stravinsky: Les Noces / Mass ~ Bernstein
Les Nocesis a screaming, shrieking, flat-out  masterpiece. Leonard Bernstein himself has referred to it as Stravinsky's  greatest work, and listening to this incendiary performance, it's awfully hard  to disagree. Scored for voices, four pianos, and percussion, the work provided  the inspiration for the entire career of Orff (ofCarmina Buranafame),  but it's so much better as sheer music than anything Orff wrote. And what a  cast! The pianists for this performance include Martha Argerich, Krystian  Zimerman, Cyprien Katsaris, and Homero Francesch, four certified virtuoso  performers, while the singers of the English Bach Festival Chorus really cover  themselves with glory in both works. A stunner.--David Hurwitz