Rating: 5/5
Review:
A wonderful disc
This is a terrific re-release of two of my favourite Mozart recordings. The "Coronation Mass" and the Vespers date from 1779 and 1780 respectively and are among his true masterpieces of this period, with rich scoring, amazing harmonic invention, fabulous choral writing and some astonishingly beautiful aria-like movements. Laudate Dominum from the Vespers is among my very favourite movements in all of Mozart's work, which is really saying something.
These performances do full justice to such wonderful music. The Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood have been uniformly excellent for decades and this is well up to their customary level of brilliance. Hogwood uses quite large forces here and they play wonderfully, while the outstanding cast of singers are technically excellent and, to my ear, perfect in their interpretations of the text and sheer beauty of the sound they make. (I have been half in love with Emma Kirkby for years and this disc is one of the reasons why.) It's a lovely, uplifting and inspiring disc of truly great music which has given me huge pleasure for many years. Now that it is available at budget price it's an unmissable bargain too, and I recommend it in the warmest terms.
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