Herreweghe takes his task seriously. The first two movements of the Requiem are for the most part superbly delicate and beautifully shaped. The choral sound is always lovely, even if at times it lacks sufficient weight.

Herreweghe evokes the full range of this multi-layered piece. His strings and harp really shimmer at the start of the Offertorium and he achieves a chilling intensity at the opening of the 'Tuba mirum' with the trumpets' and tam-tam's eerie premonitions of Mahler. In the 'Pie Jesu' the horns and woodwind glow warmly before the soprano, alto and tenor soloist take over.

Summoning up a vast array of emotions and dramatic effects, Philippe Herreweghe shapes a gripping performance of Dvorak’s Requiem. Perfectly balanced, the excellent choir, the homogeneous soloists and the orchestra deliver exactly the sonorities that summon up the musical and spiritual worlds the composer had in mind.