The grandeur of Mozart’s Missa solemnis in C minor ‘Waisenhausmesse’ caused Viennese scholars to doubt how it could have been composed by a twelve-year old boy. The Mass was written for the consecration of a new Orphanage Church in Vienna with an expanded orchestra, and its premiere was conducted by Mozart himself ‘to the general approbation and admiration of everyone’. Mozart often made use of the purity of C major in his Masses – the Missa brevis is a remarkable model of compactness, while the Missa solemnis is Mozart’s last complete Mass.

This is the fifth volume in our complete edition of Mozart’s Masses, a series that has become a favourite among collectors and one that has received a good deal of critical acclaim. Vol.3 (Naxos 8574514) was considered ‘A splendid Mozart choral album with music that will be new to all but the most hardcore of Mozart fans, with fine studio sound from Cologne’ by AllMusic.com.

Vol.2 (8574417) was an American Record Guide Critic’s Choice and described as ‘wonderful Mozart interpreted with a “Goldilocks” sensibility that avoids stylistic extremes’, while Vol.1 (8574270) introduced Fanfare to its ‘group of unfamiliar but talented soloists’.