Having been a huge fan of Mass since I first heard Bernstein's recording when I was in college in the late 80s, I was really excited to see a new recording. While some of the ensemble playing and singing on this recording is technically better it is almost entirely without any kind of soul or emotion. Hadley is okay altough I prefer Alan Titus in the original recording. The real tragedy of this recording is the quality of the many soloists sprinkled throughout the work. They sound like trained choral singers trying to be broadway stars and the effect is awful. Although I don't know this for a fact, after hearing this recording I am convinced that the original recording must have used actual broadway singers/actors--normally not my cup of tea, but far superior to any of the soloists on the Nagano recording. There are also issues with the placement of the various ensembles and balances are disappointing both in terms of sound quality and dramatic tension.