Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Johann Nepomuk Hummel is a musical link between the age of Mozart and Haydn and the Romantics such as Chopin and Liszt who came after. Indeed, Hummel was a pupil of Mozart in Vienna before deputising for the elderly Haydn as court composer in Esterházy where he also met Fuchs and Beethoven. Although best known to his own generation as a pianist-composer Hummel was a fine church composer too, as the examples on this disc demonstrate although what he was writing seems much closer to entertainment than worship to modern ears.  Listeners who cannot get enough Haydn will certainly enjoy the seventy-six minutes here.  Haydn himself described the Mass in D as “beautiful” and who are we to disagree? Collegium Musicum 90 play wonderfully under the assured direction of Richard Hickox and special mention must be made of the solo soprano, Susan Gritton, who manages to outshine the instrumentalists which, in this context, is high praise.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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