RIAS Kammerchor, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin/Hans-Christoph Rademann Harmonia Mundi HMC 902098****

Johann Christian Bach, youngest son of JS Bach, settled in London in 1762 and was a pillar of the musical establishment there until his death in 1782. He wrote the little-known Requiem and Miserere recorded here in his early 20s, when he was absorbing Italian style and making his name in Milan in 1757. Both pieces are clear in their ambitions of grandeur, and both the vocal and choral writing succeed in making a strong impression. The harmonic language does, however, tend towards blandness, so that the effect is at times not unlike that of an actor saying something not very important but with a delivery that makes it sound grave and imposing. With a strong team of soloists (Lenneke Ruiten, Ruth Sandhoff, Colin Balzer, Thomas E Bauer) these new Berlin performances are so strong that you may hardly notice. See url.ie/55ay