Francesco Feo (1691-1761) was praised by later 18th-century music historians: Burney regarded him as “one of the greatest Neapolitan masters of his time”, and JF Reichardt believed that Feo deserved to stand alongside Bach and Handel. The composer was trained at the Conservatorio di S Maria della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples, alongside Leonardo Leo. Highly esteemed for his work for both the church and the theatre, Feo’s first great success was Siface (1723; Metastasio’s first opera libretto). He was a distinguished teacher (Jommelli was one of his pupils), and wrote many settings of the Mass. The one featured here has been chosen for revival by the Saxon band Batzdorf Hofkapelle and the Sächsisches Vokalensemble because a manuscript copy made its way to the Dresden court library (probably in the 1720s).

These excellent performances reveal that Feo’s solo, vocal ensemble, choral and orchestral writing is consistently accomplished and charming. The “Gloria”, featuring two splendid trumpets, has dignity and grace. The contrapuntal choral passages in “Gratias agimus tibi” and “Qui sedes” are masterly evocations of stile antico, and the succinct trio “Crucifixus” (for soprano, alto and tenor, accompanied only by organ) is highly effective. Feo provides two dissimilar aria treatments of “Qui tollis”: the first for bass voice has an exquisite ritornello for two violins; the second is a beguiling soprano aria (finely sung by Anja Zügner) featuring two flutes. The progressively prominent horns in “Cum Sancto Spiritu” make a telling contribution. Matthias Jung does an impressive job of directing stylish and attractive performances (much in the vein of his comparably excellent survey of Lotti’s sacred music issued a couple of years ago). It is difficult to keep up with all of the revivals of undeservedly neglected repertoire that CPO pioneers, but this disc is very warmly recommended.