A prolific composer (of opera as well as sacred music)‚ Leonardo Leo lived‚ studied and worked in Naples until at the age of 50‚ on the morning of October 31‚ 1744‚ he was found dead at his harpsichord‚ having‚ as the books say‚ succumbed to an apoplexy. His music‚ it must be said‚ does not suggest an apoplectic temperament. There can hardly exist a merrier Kyrie Eleison than the one heard here from his Mass in C. The aria from the solo cantata Praebe Virgo which foresees death and destruction falling on the enemy surveys the propect with equanimity‚ and even the famous Miserere takes quite serenely to the notion of being shapen in wickedness and conceived in sin. The most intense of the compositions in this programme‚ I would say‚ is the final item‚ the nine­part motet Heu nos miseros‚ which it appears may have been written not by him but Giuseppe Corsi‚ a pupil of Carissimi. The Miserere has frequently been compared to Allegri’s‚ but the differences are more interesting than the likeness. Geoffrey Webber’s valuable introductory notes quote the enthusiastic account given by Wagner (‘like a mighty cathedral’) and mention Verdi‚ ETA Hoffmann and CV Stanford as other admirers. It is doubtful whether the ‘mighty cathedral’ analogy will hold for today’s listeners‚ for whom such a vast library of choral music has opened up‚ with masterpieces of a sustained power that makes this seem almost fragmentary in its form and style. Yet Leo’s work more than deserves its preservation‚ and it is surprising that at present no other recording of this‚ his acknowledged masterpiece‚ is listed in the catalogue. It could scarcely have found more fresh­voiced‚ musicianly singers or more attentive direction. With able soloists‚ mostly from the choir’s own ranks‚ and accomplished work by the organists‚ the performances are further helped by a matching clarity in the acoustics and sound production work by Michael Ponder.