Many excellent recordings abound but none has such a particular drawing point as on the disc released here, which features the treble Jonty Ward singing the soprano solos. His tone is warm and even, with a hint of a ‘continental’ flavour. His tuning is spot-on throughout, with just an occasional loss of agility in some of Haydn’s more awkward semiquaver twists. The ‘Et incarnatus’ is Ward’s finest moment, full of beautifully shaped phrasing. The efforts of the other soloists, also drawn from the choir’s ranks, provide a vivid foil to the sonority of the main choir. Each voice is clearly etched and the music dispatched in a businesslike manner. Higginbottom’s tempi are spot-on too. I enjoyed his spacious approach to the Credo, despite Haydn’s marking, Allegro con spirito. The Mass is heard here in Haydn’s primary scoring, minus the woodwinds. The incorporation of the stormy D minor ferment which is Insanae et vanae curae as the offertory motet is a masterstroke. This, too, is given a fully nuanced and sprightly performance by both choir and New Century Baroque.

One could quibble about the lack of Germanic Latin pronunciation but overall this is a polished disc of great music and deserves to be widely heard.