GIOVANNI BOTTESINI (1821-1889): Messa da Requiem (ed. Thomas Martin, Josep Prats and Peter Broadbent).

Description: Bottesini's dates from 1877, written for his brother, and lasts 65 minutes. Elegant, even in the long Sequence, operatic but not in a violent way, with wind instruments generally given the main themes, this attractive requiem was easily overlooked since it arrived only three years after that of Verdi. And what a surprise to find the dies illa withheld until last, after the calm and, one would think, closing Libera me. Marta Mathéu (soprano), Gemma Coma-Alabert (mezzo), Agustín Prunell-Friend (tenor), Enric Martínez-Castignani (baritone), Joyful Company of Singers, London Philharmonic Orchestra; Thomas Martin.