With its outstanding boy soloists, the Boys' Choir of the Chorakademie Dortmund is much closer to the sound ideal of the revered baroque-era castrati than female sopranos or countertenors will ever be. Thanks to the small setting, the works by Rathgeber, Pergolesi and Buxtehude appear in a wonderfully light and refreshing fashion.

Holding the position of director of the boys' choir of the Chorakademie Dortmund, Jost Salm is deeply committed to the individual vocal training of his singers. Not only by virtue of consonance, but through summoning the extraordinary, the choir and the soloists are able to do justice to the various styles of different works. In recording Johann Valentin Rathgeber's Missa brevis, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and Dietrich Buxtehude's Klaglied, the choir has created a true masterpiece: The excellent boy soprano is joined by a similarly outstanding boy alto. They blend together as congenial partners without over-adapting to each other. This way, they get much closer to the sound ideal of the baroque-era castrati than female sopranos or countertenors ever would. Thanks to the small setting, Rathgeber's Missa brevis exhibits a wonderful lightness, as the boys' are accompanied by the organ alone. Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, in which the choir takes several solo parts, giving the piece even more power and expressiveness, is the highlight of this recording. Buxtehude's highly expressive Klaglied with its effortless style reminds the listener of the Missa brevis, providing musical closure.