This is something of a historical performance of , and not just because the backing forces are the early music group and their conductor, . True, this ensemble delivers classic period performances, with zippy tempos and crisp textures in the very early , a work in which one can hear the distinct personality emerging in leaps and bounds. However, the performance is also historically oriented in the vocals of mezzo-soprano . Conductor indicates in the interview-format booklet that he wanted to "create a program centered on in the dying years of the Baroque," and this works in several ways. The most important is that ' voice is ideally suited to the project. The main attraction, the athletic motet , must have been one of the last works by a major composer to be written for a castrato, , and applies enough muscle in this work to evoke the castrato voice. Her voice is also a flexible instrument that lets her change gears effectively in pure cantabile pieces like the Agnus Dei from the , a dry run for the melody that became "Dove sono" from . It is a command performance married to an intelligent concept and sharp instrumental playing, and it would be hard to ask for anything more. ~ James Manheim