Having grown accustomed to J.E. Gardiner's splendid rendition of this work with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra on the Erato label, I must disagree with the other reviewer here and weigh in with a lesser rating for Christophers and his ensemble. The tempi are comparatively breakneck at times, and the soloists generally aren't anywhere near the former's qualitative level. Yes, The Sixteen does avoid the common pitfall of taking the final chorus too slowly, but the recording overall fails to match both Gardiner and Parrott's performances in my book. In short, it's good but definitely not great