Telarc cd's and Mozart's Requiem

I own the Philips / Gardiner requiem and I like the performance, but I would not recommend the sound quality, which is adequate but not spectacular. I think it's an early (1990) DDD recording. You could try it, but I doubt it would be much better than your Telarc.

My experience is that a recent (since 1995) CD remaster of an older analogue recording is usually better than an early (1995 or earlier) full digital (DDD) recording. Also I'm not a big fan of Philips releases ... they don't have the sparkle of a good Decca recording for me.

I'm inclined to wait until I have a high-res. player (SACD or DVDA) before purchasing a replacement to the Gardiner.

FYI, Peter Schreier was/is a professional tenor (and a good one), long before becoming a conductor. It shows in that he cares more about the quality of the singing, which I feel matters in a piece like this. Many conductors focus on the orchestra, and leave the singers and chorus to basically fend for themselves. I've experienced this first hand... This also explains Robert Shaw's success (ie, singers come first).

Gardiner is also very good. It comes down to what style you like... I've also always liked how Colin Davis handles choruses and singers.

La Chapelle de Québec
Les Violons du Roy/Bernard Labadie conducting on the
Dorian label is masterfully engineered and the performance is beautiful. This is the version completed by Robert Levin, not Sussmayr.
They take a historical approach which is very successful and the whole thing takes on a very integrated chamber music feel.

Thanks for the input guys! I'll have to do some research with the various recommendations you've given me.

Schreier is a good recommendation, but an absolute surprise for me was the performance by William Christie and Les Arts Florissants on Elektra CD...oustanding recording and singing...