This recording has—rightly—been much admired since it was first issued in the mid-1960s. When Michael Oliver surveyed the currently-available performances on LP three years ago it was still his first choice and although Boulez on CBS runs it close (76518, 9/76), the sense Kertesz and his singers create of a live dramatic occasion—aided by a justified minimum of sound-effects—is still very potent. The recording itself does show its age, particulary in the constricted sound of the orchestral tutti at the start of Side 2—the music leading up to the spectacular entry of the organ just before fig. 75. And the high-level transfer makes the very opening—pianissimo strings, misterioso—a touch prosaic. But these are minimal drawbacks. At mid-price, this LP offers a totally convincing account of one of the twentieth-century's great music dramas. Everyone should have a copy.'