This release from the Kölner Kammerorchester and conductor Christoph Poppen, with Cologne's WDR Rundfunkchor, is the first in a new cycle of Mozart masses from the Naxos label, and this is most welcome, for there are neglected works in the group. Germany's regional choirs are probably the world's best; most are large by today's standards, and the WDR Rundfunkchor combines clarity and a rich sound. Poppen's readings are straightforward and unfussy, capturing a lyricism in these works that is sometimes lost in crisper ...
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This release from the Kölner Kammerorchester and conductor Christoph Poppen, with Cologne's WDR Rundfunkchor, is the first in a new cycle of Mozart masses from the Naxos label, and this is most welcome, for there are neglected works in the group. Germany's regional choirs are probably the world's best; most are large by today's standards, and the WDR Rundfunkchor combines clarity and a rich sound. Poppen's readings are straightforward and unfussy, capturing a lyricism in these works that is sometimes lost in crisper historically oriented readings, but the big news is simply that some underexposed works are getting their due. The Mass in C major, K. 317 ("Coronation"), is a popular work among professional and amateur choirs alike, but the Missa longa in C major, K. 262, from 1775 or 1776, is something else again. There are certainly recordings out there, mostly by regional choirs like this one, but they are not numerous, and when this album appeared in 2021, it contained the first in at least ten years....
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