Though the name of the distinguished soloist and the provision of other recordings for comparison draw attention to the Alto Rhapsody, that is not really the principal attraction of the record. Perhaps no individual work is: the deepest impression is made by the four pieces collectively, in sequence. With words by three of the finest of German poets, all in some way concerned with the little span of our aspiring and fretful human lives and their relationship with whatever is above and beyond, the music never betrays the seriousness of its subject by any facile treatment and yet is never untrue to its own nature, which is that of a compassionate comforter.
As we have come to expect of Robert Shaw, the performances are guided by good sense and warm feeling. Orchestral and choral work are both of fine quality. The homogeneity of the choir bears witness to the achievement of an expert trainer: no strident or uneven voice obtrudes, and at times, as in the quiet unaccompanied conclusion of verse two in the Schicksalslied, the sound is quite exceptionally beautiful. Yet the very facts that Shaw is so pre-eminently a choral conductor and that his Atlanta Choir are so good should, one would have thought, have ensured that due prominence would be secured for the choir in the balancing of their recordings; and this, in my view at least, is not so. In these works of Brahms, especially, the words are as important as in any Lieder recital; the choir, corporately, are in the position of the Lieder singer, and they and the words they sing should not be merely gentle, somewhat amorphous presences in the mid-distance.
The prominence which the choir should have in the choral works is certainly accorded the soloist in the Rhapsody. Marilyn Horne still retains the richness of her lower notes, and she sustains a fine pianissimo in ''Die Ode verschlingt ihn''. But there is also too much unsteadiness, and the recording picks up all too clearly momentary impurities in her tone. It is in many respects a good performance, but both of the comparisons listed in the heading to this review serve to show up limitations. Despite the rattly sound of the old Decca recording in its new transfer, Ferrier's voice re-emerges as surpassingly beautiful, and in the EMI recording Baker's concentration of tone and expression receives strong support from Boult, whose sforzandos in the opening bars have much more urgency than Shaw's, while the tremolandos that follow are more chilling and tense. One would not recommend this disc to readers who are primarily wanting the Alto Rhapsody; but it does provide an opportunity to be with Brahms for nearly an hour in which the thoughtful, questioning mood is unbroken and its musical expression unblemished.'