Emöke Baráth (sop), Philippe Estèphe, François Saint-Yves (org), Le Concert Spirituel/Hervéve Niquet (dir)

Alpha Classics Alpha 1014 ★★★

This is Niquet’s second recording of the Fauré Requiem but his first with his own group using period instruments. Niquet chooses the starkly orchestrated 1893 account of the score, which excludes woodwinds and violins (with the exception of a solo player at key moments). This first complete score has now become the version of choice, especially with chamber groups. The period strings play with minimal vibrato in an account which is careful to avoid over-emoting though is not devoid of a sense of grief. Tempi are generally well-judged – though this listener was taken by surprise at the speed of the opening and closing sections of the Offertoire, which felt rushed; more than once, one hankered for Niquet to be just a bit more flexible and allow the phrases to breathe more. Most welcome is the use of French-inflected Latin, which again adds to the authenticity of the occasion. The couplings are not especially gripping, though of course valuable in telling the story of French sacred music in the 19th century.