The Cantata is an astonishing work for a teenager. Beethoven wrote it in 1790 when he was 19, producing a work which stands comparison with almost any of his early music. In particular, the main soprano aria is one of the most beautiful melodies that he ever composed. He was evidently so proud of it that he used it in the climax of the final scene of Fidelio.

Sadly the piece was never performed on the occasion for which it was written, probably because the choir found it too difficult to sing. The score was then thought to be lost, only emerging in 1884, but it has never been fully appreciated quite as it should. Here the Lettone Choir give a fresh, incisive performance, the more compelling for being live, and the soprano, Cornelia Ptassek, brings out the “gulp” quality in the great, sublime theme in its triple-time build-up.

The cantata was recorded live at the Montpellier Festival in July 2007, as was the Mass in C the year before, with different soloists. Though better appreciated than the Cantata, it has still always suffered unfairly in relation to the supreme mastery of the Missa solemnis. It was written for the name-day of the Princess Esterházy as part of the series Haydn began in his old age; Beethoven’s offering, however, was roundly condemned by Prince Leopold, who had succeeded Haydn’s original employer, as “ridiculous” – more a comment on him than on the music. Yet this remark still bedevilled the work’s subsequent reputation. This performance has the same positive qualities as the cantata and the choir and soloists are excellent, although the mezzo falls short. The live recordings are generally first-rate, even if the inclusion of applause at the end of each work tends to be intrusive. An exceptionally generous coupling at almost 80 minutes.