Volume 6 of this series (A/01) was a Gramophone Award nominee this year and I see no possible reason why this one shouldn’t be too: it contains some very fine and largely unfamiliar music‚ in splendid performances. The principal work is the ‘other’ Gloria – that is‚ RV588‚ not the popular 589‚ which however by no means outshines it. This setting‚ in fact‚ begins particularly fascinatingly‚ as the choral climax to a short‚ introductory solo motet Jubilate‚ o amoeni chori; the motet elides‚ as it were‚ into the choral Gloria in an attractive and lively movement. Then follows a poetic‚ choral ‘Et in terra pax’‚ rich in texture and especially in harmony‚ and several further movements scarcely less appealing than their counterparts in RV589: a duet ‘Laudamus te’‚ a ‘Gratias’ with some harmonic shocks‚ a solemn ‘Qui tollis’‚ a lovely ‘Qui sedes’ in siciliana style with some imaginative textures‚ and a couple of movements with obbligato oboes‚ notably a ‘Domine Deus’ (distinguished here by Alexandra Bellamy’s neat and crisp playing). The disc starts a shade unpromisingly‚ with what seems to me rather a routine Laetatus sum‚ in solid block choral writing against orchestral figuration. But the Laudate pueri is quite another matter‚ a highly demanding solo motet which Carolyn Sampson sings with great precision and brilliance – Vivaldi often writes for the solo voice as if it has the agility of a violin‚ but this clearly doesn’t disturb her. There is a lot of original and imaginative writing here‚ some of it pictorial; I specially enjoyed the ‘Excelsus’ (another siciliana) and the lovely ‘Gloria patri’ in dialogue with Rachel Brown’s expressive flute. The short motet Vestro principi divino was probably written (according to Michael Talbot’s notes) for a weak contralto‚ in which case the use of Nathalie Stutzmann is an inspired piece of miscasting: she sings this entertaining piece with great power and accuracy‚ and goes on to do the motet introducing the Gloria in virtuoso fashion. The other soloists‚ Susan Gritton and Charles Daniels‚ have less to sing but do it with no less distinction. And Robert King directs his choir and orchestra with sensitive feeling for tempo‚ nuance and style. One could hardly ask for more. Among alternative versions of the Gloria is the no less excellent one under Philip Pickett‚ recently issued‚ marked by its fluent and buoyant rhythms and its admirable soloists‚ Christopher Robson and Catherine Bott‚ who may have a slight stylistic edge on their counterparts here (certainly Robson uses less vibrato than Stutzmann) – although for once in 18th­century sacred music the use of male voices (by Pickett) rather than female (by King) is not more ‘correct’: the piece was after all composed for a girls’ orphanage.