In his Great Mass in C minor, Mozart set out to show off both his own musical virtuosity and that of his new wife Constanza, the first soprano soloist. Though unfinished, it is more substantial than most earlier Mass settings and bears comparison with Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Baroque counterpoint sits alongside classical forms and harmony, with soaring lyrical solos as in Mozart’s operatic arias.

Mendelssohn considered Psalm 42 (‘As the hart desires the water-brooks’) his best shorter sacred work: from quiet beginnings, it grows to a final outpouring of thanks and praise which looks forward to his great oratorio Elijah.

The concert opens with Mozart’s powerful, brooding overture to Don Giovanni.