If you can get past the 1940s monaural sound (and if you are not already familiar with this performance, you will get a shock). This is the gentlest, most right sounding rendition I have ever heard. The tempi are uncommonly brisk, though they never sound that way. The third movement has never sounded more beautiful. Halban is perfect in the finale. Walter passed away before he could record this work in stereo. His later performances were very different and I'm still not sure whether or not his later slower tempos and even greater expression were an improvement.
These performances by the Ricercar Consort and its legendary quartet of soloists, from the series Deutsche Barock Kantaten, were created at a time when historical performance practice was new and sprang from original research into the performance practice. This style of music-making is now completely integrated into contemporary musical life thanks partly to these Baroque pioneers.
…What a delightful surprise! I was most definitely not prepared for this bold but very entertaining take on Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail. I particularly enjoyed Mojca Erdmann's sexy Blonde. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Opus Arte, is very easy to recommend, even if the audio could have been handled a bit better. Highly Recommended.
Herz aus Glas (subtitled "Singet, denn der Gesang vertreibt die Wölfe" [German for "Sing, for singing drives away the wolves"], French "Cœur de verre") is the ninth album by Popol Vuh. It was originally released in 1977 on Brain Records. In 2005 SPV re-released the album with two bonus tracks. This album was released as the original motion picture soundtrack of Heart of Glass (Original German title: "Herz aus Glas", French title "Coeur de verre") by German director Werner Herzog, but in fact only two tracks ("Engel der Gegenwart" and "Hüter der Schwelle") were actually featured in the film.