Karl Munchinger and his Stuttgart musicians recorded a highly praised performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion during the mid 1960s, following it with a Christmas Oratorio which was also well received. First released in 1971, his B minor Mass now appears on a two-CD set with marginally improved sound. When it first came out the performance was criticized mainly for the one thing which has since become almost common practice amongst stylistically aware conductors—I mean the adoption of what may well have seemed in those days as unacceptably brisk tempos. Yet by comparison with interpreters such as Andrew Parrott (EMI) or Nikolaus Harnoncourt (at least in his earlier of two Teldec/ASV recordings), Munchinger's tempos sound at least leisurely and at worst lugubrious, and the worst is to be found in the second 'stile antico' Kyrie which is almost interminable in duration, chorally flat in pitch and phrased throughout in a turgid manner. It is hard to believe at such moments that these are broadly speaking the same artists who performed so well in Munchinger's St Matthew Passion.
The solos and duets fare considerably better with fine contributions, above all from Ameling and Watts. Minton is disappointing in the ''Laudamus te'' but Munchinger adopts such a fatuous speed that it may well have set up all sorts of problems both for the singer and for the solo violinist whose intonation is frequently awry. All this adds up to a considerable disappointment, which is a shame because there are, as I have implied, some affecting features in the performance. They are not to be found in any of the choral movements however, which suffer from corporate lethargy in what sounds to me a pretty large choir, and from Munchinger's leaden beat; but admirers of Ameling, Watts, Krenn and Krause will find plenty of things to enjoy here. Ameling and Krenn, for instance, are beautifully matched in the ''Domine Deus'' where Munchinger seems to regain some of his past form; and Watts gives a fine account of the ''Qui sedes''—Munchinger's tempo is too slow for me—and a lovely one of the Agnus Dei.
In summary, a performance to be approached with caution. Some of the solo singing deserves praise and sometimes that is true of the obbligato playing; but it is, alas, never so in the case of the choral singing and Munchinger's sponge-fingered direction is a matter for considerable regret.'