Although public performances of Dvořák’s Stabat mater are still comparatively rare, the discerning record-buyer is now thoroughly spoilt for choice with an impressive array of outstanding interpretations: my top choice in July 2013 was Philippe Herreweghe’s recording. Dvořák was, to quote Isaiah, ‘a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief’. He completed the work in autumn 1877, when he was in his mid-thirties, following the deaths of his daughters Josefa and Růžena and his son Otakar. In the event, only three of the Dvořáks’ nine children survived into adulthood.

The first movement (of 10) is the most substantial and is cast in a tear-laden, desolate B minor. Under Jansons, the Bavarian Radio Chorus are in fine voice, crisp of enunciation and excellently balanced against the large orchestra. They are joined by a distinguished solo quartet. Erin Wall and Christian Elsner sing with a passionate intensity, alert to every nuance of this glorious score. Elsner is particularly lustrous in the Brahmsian ‘Fac me vere tecum flere’. Mihoko Fujimura has a tendency to be breathy and wide of vibrato; she is less expressive than Michaela Selinger (for Herreweghe), who is lighter and smoother. Liang Li has a hefty, resolute tone which contrasts well with the ethereal upper voices of the chorus.

As if (perhaps) to compensate for the preponderance of slow music, Jansons takes the ‘Tui nati vulnerati’movement with a hasty, rather heavy-handed swing, clocking in at less than four minutes, compared to Herreweghe’s more considered 4'35". From this movement onwards, however, the mood turns towards the hope inherent in the Resurrection, with Jansons cranking up the dramatic impetus for an exhilarating final Amen. But though this live performance is excellent in all respects (including a remarkably silent audience), Herreweghe’s Flemish forces still have the edge.