Bruno Weil and his forces bring a characteristic freshness and verve to Haydn's great "Mass in time of war", with energetic tempos, eager singing from the Tölz Boys' Choir and crisp, athletic work from the orchestra. The fast section of the Kyrie, for instance, launched by Anne Monoyios's chaste, boyish soprano, is urgently propelled, yet with sufficient breadth and gravitas to prevent any suggestion of undue jauntiness; the "Et Resurrexit" bursts in with a sense of spontaneous exhilaration; and the martial drama of the Agnus dei, foreshadowing the Missa solemnis, is enhanced by the lean, piercing valveless trumpets and the dry rattle of period timpani.
Of the two remaining works by far the more substantial is the Salve regina for solo quartet, strings and organ of 1771, a blend of rococo grace and gentle, introspective melancholy. If the tempos for the first two movements are a shade perky, the four soloists sing stylishly and sensitively, listening carefully to each other (though Monica Groop and JOrg Hering have rather more vibrato warmth than their colleagues) and negotiating cleanly, say, the extraordinary chromaticisms at "gernentes et flentes" in the opening section (from 459").
