Few would argue that Puccini’s Messa a quattro voci con orchestra (more commonly known as the Messa di Gloria) is a masterpiece but it provides ample evidence of the young Puccini’s impressive talent. It’s a fluent, enjoyable work in which the composer’s family background – he came from a long line of church musicians – can be clearly heard, not least in some very nifty contrapuntal writing.

There are, perhaps inevitably, echoes of Verdi, as well as certain moments that wouldn’t necessarily strike more northern European ears as sounding terribly Mass-like: the perky ‘Gloria’, the jolly march that emerges in the ‘Qui tollis’ or an Agnus Dei with an easy-going oom cha accompaniment that brings the work to an unprepossessing close. But taken as a whole – and listened to with an open mind – it’s a satisfying work.

And it receives a satisfying, serious performance here from Gustavo Gimeno, the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and venerable Catalan chorus Orfeó Català. Gimeno paces the work beautifully and his orchestra play well, with plenty of detail and dynamic subtlety – climaxes are kept on a tight leash and carefully controlled. Orfeó Català prove themselves both agile and flexible but sometimes lack bite and heft; they are not helped by being set back a little in the balance. The two solo parts are short, but they are luxuriously cast: Ludovic Tézier rich and authoritative, Charles Castronovo ardent and urgent.

It’s interesting to compare the recording with Antonio Pappano’s highly praised account with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, which is an overall more operatic and dramatic affair, with the chorus more immediate and the young Roberto Alagna an unbeatable tenor soloist; I find it more fun, I admit. Gimeno’s more sober approach is undoubtedly a valid one, though, and with much to enjoy in the couplings – further early works, engagingly performed – this is certainly an album that’s worth a listen.