Mendelssohn: Elijah (Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Huddersfield Choral Society, Sir Malcolm Sargent conducting; with Isobel Baillie, soprano, Gladys Ripley, contralto, James Johnston, tenor, Harold Williams, bass-baritone; Columbia, 32 sides). It was Mendelssohn who revived Bach's great St. Matthew Passion 100 years after it was written. Now, 100 years after Mendelssohn's death, his own choral masterpiece, a work of simplicity and directness, gets an excellent performance on records. Recording: good.
Mozart: Quintet in D Major for Strings, K. 593 (Milton Katims, violist, with the Budapest String Quartet; Columbia, 6 sides). Somber but superb Mozart,...