The novelty here is the inclusion of Neukomm’s Libera me, written expressly as a conclusion to Mozart’s Requiem (in 18th-century Austria, this part of the text was customarily sung to plainchant). Neukomm, a pupil of Haydn, wrote it for a performance in Rio de Janeiro in 1819 – possibly the first in the New World. He keeps to Mozart’s orchestration and, alongside freely invented music, refers to themes from Mozart’s ‘Introit’ and ‘Dies irae’, where the text suggests it. Jean-Claude Malgoire believes this movement makes a stronger conclusion to the Requiem: I’m not so sure – even as someone who has made his own completion of the Requiem, I find the repeat of the opening movements for the ‘Communio’ very satisfying, a return to ‘real’ Mozart after the inevitably mixed impression of the preceding movements.

But it’s good to hear Neukomm’s impressive piece, and the live performance of the whole Requiem is a strong one, apart from an unaccountably sluggish ‘Recordare’. Small deficiencies in ensemble are far outweighed by impressive choral singing that presents the text with unusual clarity and force. Malgoire allows the trumpets and trombones an important role in the overall texture, often giving it an unexpectedly fierce character. Their prominence in the ‘Confutatis’, however, distorts the music, focusing too much on Süssmayr, not enough on Mozart. And I wish the soloists had consistently matched up to the stylishness and clarity of the choir and orchestra. It’s nice when singers are able to take a cue from period instrumentalists and, for example, modify their use of vibrato.