TAKE THAT..

Ah, Wolfgang Amadeus.   You can live a lifetime and never truly get to grips with all the treasures he bestowed upon us - great symphonies, concertos, opera from the forbidding darkness of Don Giovanni to the risqué ebullience of the Seraglio....and all points in between.   But it is the area of sacred music that the most captivating melodies are found. 

Now I`m the last person in the world that you would expect to wax lyrical over solemn vespers, but I  have confessed before to my admiration and enjoyment of religious architecture and music  It seems you don`t have to belong to the club to enjoy its fringe benefits.

But when I look at the image of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart looking down on me with that accusing glare, it`s almost as if he is challenging me to give up my scepticism of the fairy tales, the mumbo-jumbo, the smoke and mirrors and just wallow in the glory of his Laudate Dominum.  Now this has been performed by choirs and sopranos the world over - Dame Kiri, Hayley Westenra, even Katherine Jenkins has had a warble at it, but I`ve chosen this version by  Cristina Piccardi, who has provided it with all the reverence, all the delicate clarity and all the timeless sincerity that it deserves.  I can almost hear Mozart chastising me for my lack of conviction,  "You miserable unbeliever - cop this lot":-