Recordings of the Missa solemnis have previously been categorised as the very few we might call ‘great’ and the others – and all, of both sorts, were in some way flawed. Now there are perhaps a dozen highly acceptable both as performances and recordings; but the division now is more often between those that offer a different sound (in, for instance, use of period instruments, reduced number of voices, faster speeds) and those which surprise us not primarily through the means but the end, which is the great work itself. David Zinman’s brilliant and exhilarating recording is a prime example of the first. This new version under Kenneth Schermerhorn is of the second kind, and of that kind a perfectly admirable specimen.

In case that sounds like small praise with a dull implication of stay-at-home-and-save-your-money about it, I should add that no recording of the Missa solemnis can be even ‘an admirable specimen’ unless it is at the same time exhilarating, inspiring, richly supplied with high musical talent, and a miracle of precision. The Nashville forces measure up to the work’s fearsome demands, and for them and Schermerhorn (their conductor for 20 years) the recording may well be regarded as a crowning achievement. Certainly one of the most satisfying features of the performance goes under the rather unadventurous heading of good sense – choice of tempo in particular impresses as consistently well-judged. But there is also real virtuosity in those passages of intricate cross-rhythms such as the ‘Et vitam venturi’ fugue, where Beethoven’s part-writing dances with full energetic audacity and in a clear light, naked and unashamed.

The soloists also compare well with many, more starry European rosters. It is true that Lori Phillips does not have quite the firm ray of Janowitz sunlight to focus the soprano line, but she meets its challenges well. Firmness is a notable characteristic of the others, with special praise due to the mezzo for sustaining her long ‘Miserere nobis’ so resourcefully, the tenor for his strong ‘Et homo factus est’ and the bass for those rich low notes in the Agnus Dei.

The violin solo bestows its blessing upon the Benedictus with the fine art of Mary Kathryn von Osdale and her Stradivari. The record producer and sound engineers have also met their challenges with credit; and (since money was mentioned a little earlier) perhaps a reminder is in order that this is on Naxos at super-bargain price.