Hickox sets effective tempos in Bach's Magnificat and points up the many striking contrasts in colour and texture with which the piece abounds. From among the many successful features of the recording Stephen Varcoe's 'Quia fecit mihi magna' and the 'Et misericordia' sung by Michael Chance and John Mark Ainsley stand out. Vivaldi's Gloria, RV589 is the better known of two settings by the composer in D major. In this programme it's prefaced by an introductory motet Ostro picta, which may well in fact belong to the Gloria and is here sung with warmth and radiance by Emma Kirkby. Hickox's performance of this evergreen vocal masterpiece comes over with conviction. It's gracefully phrased, sensitively sung and affectingly paced with an admirable rapport between vocalists and instrumentalists.
The sound is first rate.