This second album of Mozart’s complete Masses (Volume 1 is on 8574370) pairs one work of exceptional dimensions and ambition with a miniature example. The ‘Great’ Mass in C minor is one of Mozart’s most spectacular and cast on such a scale that it embraces every human and spiritual emotion, reconciling the Salzburg tradition with that of Italian opera. The Mass was left incomplete by Mozart – it is heard here in a performing version made by the German musicologist and Mozart specialist Franz Beyer. By comparison the Missa brevis in C major exudes a spirit of festive concision.

Vol. 1 in this series featured the large-scale Coronation Mass and Missa longa (8574270): ‘Christoph Poppen’s unfussy direction and unhurried tempos equally capture the jubilation and contemplation in the sacred text, drawing powerful and often dramatic performances from the West German Radio Chorus and the celebrated Cologne Chamber Orchestra’ (Yorkshire Post, *****).