Three viable recordings here, each with merit enough to justify purchase, and each with a short-coming to raise doubt. All are well recorded, except that none of the choirs is quite as forward in balance with the orchestra as I personally would like. This applies least and also matters least in the Leipzig performance under Masur (Philips), for here the choir's corporate personality is drawn out more vividly, and the tenor and bass parts have considerably more ring and body than in either of the others. For soloists, all do well in the contralto department, but Masur with Gundula Janowitz as soprano and Corboz with Rachel Yakar (Erato/RCA) are preferable to Burgos's Helen Donath, who at best sings prettily but whose tone is too often tremulous. Similarly, Burgos's Werner Hollweg, incisive in recitative, lacks the smoothness of line to do justice to the tenor's cavatina, while Hans-Peter Blochwitz (Masur) and Markus Schafer (Corboz) satisfy in both respects. Most important is the Paul; or rather, the dual role which the singer has to play and which doubles the challenge of his part. If Saul had never seen the light, Theo Adam (Masur) would be splendid, for his persecution-aria, ''Vertilge sie'', has the harsh power and ruthless energy of the fanatic. If there had been no Saul at all, Thomas Hampson (Corboz) would be fine. As it is, Fischer-Dieskau fulfils the requirements best, having the authoritative weight that Hampson cannot quite command and singing the lyrical passages, such as ''Sei mir gnadig'', with a control and beauty of tone that are quite beyond anything Adam has to offer. The conductors all convey a sense of involvement and a feeling for the drama of the oratorio. Masur has a rather more purposeful approach than the others, illustrated in the first bars where the chords of the chorale are slightly detached, and so more assertive, less comfortable. He also benefits from the best recorded sound, with more definition than the Erato, more depth than the EMI, where remastering has brightened the sound but made it that degree more harsh.
What then has to be said is that, whatever the disadvantages (and on balance I would opt for the strong conviction of Masur and his forces, though keeping the Stoic's Handbook at the ready for Paul's solos), all of these recordings present a masterpiece: a fertile work, its unfailing inventiveness (up to, but perhaps not including, the final chorus?) nurtured by love and respect for forms which generations of thorough musical workmen have helped to fashion.'