Janacek: Msa Glagolskaja & Sinfonietta / Varady, Doufexis, Prolat, Rose, Gast; Imbal

Here's a word one wouldn't normally use to describe a performance of this music: transparent. Eliahu Inbal and Denon's engineers make every detail of Janácek's complex orchestration and rhythmic interplay audible. Such clarity could show up the performers' weaknesses, but they have none. Especially good are the soloists: in strenuous parts that reduce many singers to wobbly shouting, this quartet is as easy on the ear as you'll find. While Inbal's slowish tempos and attention to detail reveal passages of surprising tenderness, they don't bring out the music's full cathartic savagery. This performance is satisfying intellectually and aurally, but if you want your Janácek with a dose of good healthy frenzy, try the recordings on Supraphon: Charles Mackerras for the Mass, Karel Ancerl or Vaclav Neumann for the Sinfonietta. --Matthew Westphal