Album: Bach, Mass in B Minor – Les Musiciens/Minkowski, (Naive)

The surprise in Marc Minkowski's belated recording of Bach's B- minor Mass is that there are no major surprises.

Using forces identical in number to those in The Gabrieli Consort's St Matthew Passion, Minkowski delivers an elegant reading with as many reflective largos as lickety-spit allegros. Mezzo Blandine Staskiewicz and tenor Colin Balzer make particularly attractive contributions.

The harpsichord continuo in the first Credo is an oddly Heath Robinson touch. Overall, though, this is too serene to dazzle.