The Gloria is much the more popular of these two works by Poulenc, but in the opinion of many musicians the earlier Stabat mater is the finer, free from blatant Stravinskyisms and orchestral posturings, and filled with touchingly simple fervour—a sincere lament for his friend, the painter Christian Berard. Yet the only satisfactory recording of it so far has been that by Baudo (Harmonia Mundi)—which, to be frank, leaves this one standing: or rather not standing but running, since Ozawa's tempos are often uncomfortably fast. His urgency lends a fierce intensity to ''Cujus animam'' and a righteously angry attack to ''Quis est homo qui non fleret?'' (in which his chorus does wonders at articulating semiquavers at this speed), but in hurrying ''Quae moerebat'' pianissimos get disregarded, and ''Eja mater'' is also too fast. Though the work's main emphasis is on a cappella singing—and here the chorus's phrasing of words calls for praise—the recorded balance perversely seems to favour the orchestra, and here and there (as in ''vidit suum'') Kathleen Battle, sweet-voiced but a trifle on the vibrant side, gets a little submerged in the texture. She takes the high C flat at ''et plagas'' beautifully, without the strain shown by Michele Lagrange for Baudo, and her final reiterations of ''Paradisi gloria'' are radiant. The chorus is very reliable except for a couple of slightly imprecise soprano entries.
Ozawa's hurried speeds (which tend to increase even further in the course of movements) are equally worrying in the Gloria. Without necessarily taking Pretre's EMI recording as a model, it is worth remembering that it was made in the composer's presence, which presumably implies that he approved the tempos then adopted: so a performance which is 25. per cent faster might already be questioned, even without the evidence of one's ears. ''Gloria'' is taken very quickly ''Laudamus te'' is rushed, in ''Domine Deus? Agnus Dei'' the speed increases, detracting from the blissful peace of the repeated phrase ''Qui tollis peccata ly''. On the other hand, the first ''Domine Deus'' is too broken up and allowed to drag The orchestral brass are brightly spotlit, but the chorus is set rather far back, with a consequent loss of verbal clarity. Comparison needs to be made not with the other American performance (Bernstein's on CBS); which MEO succinctly characterized as ''punchy; up-front, decidedly unGallic'', but with the stylish and well-paced recording conducted by Louis Fremaux (EMI) which also had, in Norma Burrowes, almost ideai casting for the beatific soprano part. Battle is fractionally less steady in tone and, exceptionally, not dead in tune in her unaccompanied Amens.'