This recording of Charles Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass was made as part of last year's Christmas concert in the Mainz Cathedral. The instrumentation for the Christmas festive occasion is lavish, using a large orchestra and instrumentation typical of late Romanticism. A sublime simplicity is combined with operatic-dramatic elements. Gounod's contemporary Saint-Saëns wrote enthusiastically: "A glow emanated from the music – one is first dazzled, then enchanted, then overwhelmed.” Intimate moments and immersion in the expansive sound, the play of dynamics and the remarkably transparent ensembles, despite the sheer size of the instrumentation, ensure a recording that is both atmospheric and at the same time exciting!