Nelson Mass/Theresienmesse

The set, like many imports, can be hard to find. Here's how: go to the classical search page, type "haydn masses" in the title box and "philips" in the label box, and then click search. Imports tend to go out of stock quickly, and this set is quite a bargain--so don't hesitate!

However, for some reason I'd never become interested in Haydn's vocal music. I had even heard Gardiner's recording of "The Creation," which simply didn't communicate to me, and which sounded too Baroque and not Classical.

Gardiner's three two-CD sets of Haydn's six major late masses, however, has finally allowed me to appreciate this aspect of Haydn's career. I had previously sampled the generally critically acclaimed Hickox/Collegium Musicum 90 series on Chandos. I have to admit that I've never been a fan of this ensemble, and my previous encounters with them in Albinoni, Telemann, Leclair, Handel, Haydn (symphonies), and Vivaldi left me feeling very dissatisfied. The group simply sounds like what they are: the Chandos "house" period instrument band, who are churning through large chunks of repertoire for a label that needs such recordings for its loyal customers. CM90 has no corporate identity, like Europa Galanta or AAM Berlin or the Rare Fruits Council or any of another dozen period instrument bands. CM90 never takes risks, they always play things straight and middle-of-the-road, and I think that the Brit critics in the Gramophone and Penguin Guide entirely overestimate them!

That being said, the Gardiner/EBO/Monteverdi effort (yes, mostly British too) is in a different league from the Hickox/Chandos effort. The performances are less pedantic and actually take wing in a way Hickox never does. Moreover, the playing and singing are simply on another level. You sense here a polish and a professionalism and an elan that I never sense on Chandos.

Finally, Gardiner's series is a very attractive and economical way of adding the six major late Haydn masses to your collection. Each of the three two-for-one slimline packages comes with one complete mass on each disc (plus the Te Deum), whereas the Chandos series runs to seven or eight full-price CDs. So take your pick. Like I said, I wasn't a fan of Gardiner's "Creation," but either my taste has changed over time (I should listen to it again), or else these Gardiner performances are simply more vital and better. Either way, I think they're the best Haydn masses on the market.