Mozart’s Requiem has the fame but his Mass in C minor perhaps has the more beautiful music. The wind band harmonies at the start of Et incarnatus est with Malin Christensson soaring gently above them was balm for the soul.

The Swedish soprano began the Kyrie tentatively, her trill sketchy, but relaxed and improved as the work progressed.

In Domine Deus she blended well with mezzo Christine Rice who was assured and agile in the demanding coloratura passages of Laudamus te, accompanied by crisp and energetic playing from the CBSO, astutely conducted by Andris Nelsons.

The CBSO Chorus was splendid and their intensity and dynamic range in Qui tollis made it the dark heart of the work: they’re a credit to choral director Simon Halsey.

The Mass demands little of the male soloists but tenor Ben Johnson and bass Vuyani Mlinde showcased their voices in two Mozart concert arias. In Misero! O sogno – Aura, che intorno spiri Johnson’s lyric voice revealed a bright heroic ring. In Per questa bella mano Mlinde’s sonorous bass duetted with the double bass – the CBSO’s John Tattersdill clearly enjoying the virtuoso demands. A novelty piece made worthy of a serenade for Don Giovanni by Mozart’s genius.

Nelsons’ approach to Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 was irritatingly old-fashioned: light on repeats, heavy on strings, violins lumped together on the left; the opening movement slower than Mozart’s molto allegro; an excessively manipulated artificially romanticized andante which lurched between languor and whiplash accents. The last two movements fared better.