As the Verdi bicentenary celebrations gently subside, this new Erato release offers the listener the best from a pair of performances of the Requiem, given by the orchestra and chorus of Paris’s National Opera on successive nights in June 2013. It must be pointed out, at the outset, that this is one of the speedier Requiem interpretations on disc, with a total time of just over 77 minutes – quicker even than Toscanini’s live 1951 Carnegie Hall performance and considerably brisker than Barenboim’s recent live disc, which takes almost 86 minutes; whereas Pappano takes 84 minutes and Jesús López-Cobos just a minute shorter. Strangely, the Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan’s tempi make perfect sense, with no sense of reckless hurrying – with one notable exception: the last few minutes of the Libera me are taken at breakneck tempo, as if anxious to avoid overtime payments.

However, Jordan draws the most exquisite playing from his band throughout. I have never heard better cello-playing in the cruelly exposed introduction to the Offertorio, and the woodwind (especially the quartet of bassoons) make the most of their colourful arabesques. The brass, timpani and bass drum are all captured to perfection. The chorus settle down, producing distinguished singing with crisp enunciation, unanimous attack and never the slightest fear of flatness in their tuning.

Alas, the solo quartet’s contributions are mostly unsatisfactory. Vibrato width and speed vary alarmingly, for example in the Agnus Dei, and soprano Kristin Lewis flails around with too much portamento and some blisteringly painful tone. The bass soloist, Ildar Abdrazakov, fares best, being both eloquent and majestic.

Overall, then, while exciting in terms of chorus and orchestra, this is not an overwhelming interpretation or a front-runner.