Flanked on this recording by the Missa brevis in G major, the only example of a ‘Pastoral’ Mass by Mozart, and the emotive Missa brevis in F major, the precocious Mass in C major was composed at the age of only 13. It is a dramatic setting of sizeable proportions, with the Gloria and Credo themselves the length of a Missa brevis setting. The ‘Dominicus’ Mass shows a deepening of Mozart’s contrapuntal and harmonic language, with more adventurous and memorable melodies for the soloists.

MusicWeb International praised Vol.2 of the series (8574417): ‘Christoph Poppen leads a fine team of soloists, as well as the Cologne Radio Choir and the Cologne Chamber Orchestra… Lively tempi, light textures, and reserve characterise these small-scale, modern-instrument performances’.

Meanwhile Gramophone wrote that ‘the soloists… impress throughout… pure-voiced Katharina Konradi is a worthy challenger in the ecstatic Christe and Et incarnatus est, the creamier mezzo of Sarah Romberger agile in the Laudamus te, and they combine well in the Domine and Quoniam’.

From the outset of his career as a conductor, Christoph Poppen’s name has been synonymous with innovative programming and a wide-ranging commitment to contemporary music. Numerous guest conducting engagements have taken him to orchestras such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Staatskapelle Dresden, Bamberger Symphoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Detroit and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras, Wiener Symphoniker, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, New Japan Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Camerata Salzburg. Poppen is chief conductor of the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, the newly-appointed music director of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and principal guest conductor of the Israel Chamber Orchestra.

‘Under Poppen, K.262’s Kyrie bowls along at quite a lick, its counterpoint muscular and surprisingly bouncy given the character of the text… soprano Carolina Ullrich is given space to float the “Figaro-anticipating” Agnus Dei with serene eloquence’ - BBC Music Magazine on Vol.1 (8574270)