Haydn: Nelson Mass/Nikolaimesse

Haydn's masses didn't receive their due during last year's big anniversary; anyone who is feeling short-changed should explore Naxos's ongoing series recorded in Trinity Church, New York. The choral singing is the focus of interest here. Trinity Choir are a working church choir as well as great concert singers, and while they never lose sight of the drama that is so integral to the masses, there's also a strong sense of devotion, which some performers overlook. They sound playful in the early, pastoral Nikolaimesse, but are altogether more intense in the Nelson Mass: they're electrifying in the Kyrie and achieve remarkable qualities of ecstasy towards the close of the Credo. The Rebel Baroque Orchestra – not revolutionaries, but named after the French composer Jean-Féry Rebel – play with just the right combination of sparseness and fire for J Owen Burdick. Though the soloists, presumably choir members, are decent rather than great, soprano Ann Hoyt is notably impressive in the Nelson Mass's treacherously difficult opening.