Where some of the baroque requiems are decidedly celebratory, and others are decidedly morose, the Jommelli is stately, subtle and attractive. This is one of my five March 2000 acquisitons, and one to which I will listen frequently.

It starts softly with organ and male voices and builds gently and steadily to the Dies irae, which itself is contemplative. The soloists are excellent, their voices blending pleasantly together in the Salva me. There is nothing here that is brash, volatile or upsetting. The melodies and tempos are conducive to remembrance, but not to boredom.

One word of warning: this is a live recording, and the applause at the end of each work does break the mood. In fact, the recording is so fine, and the performers so precise that I was quite surprised to learn that this was made before an audience. I certainly would never have guessed from the sound quality, or the complete absence of any background audience sounds (like coughs).

I feel like a cad giving the ratings I've been giving today. I've handed out three straight four-skull ratings for my March 2000 purchases. Shame on me. I should have purchased these sooner. Don't worry. I'll get around to panning the Bruckner soon enough. :o)

Rating: NNNN