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This re-release is very exciting indeed and many music lovers will want it even if they already own recordings of Vivaldi's very famous and over-recorded "Gloria." Conductor Alessandrini launches into it with a passion few have matched, the tempo breakneck-fast and excitement level high. And throughout he surprises, with each section's tempo and mood taken directly from the text, as if it were an Italian opera. The more prayerful sections--both beginning with the words "Domine Deus"--are taken very introspectively, with the second sung by the amazing contralto Sara Mingardo, whose voice is like chocolate. She and the other soloists are excellent throughout, and each shines in the Magnificat, which contains virtuoso writing. There is a brief concerto for strings in a minor key, and the CD closes with a D major concerto for trumpet and oboe which has energetic outer movements. A splendid disc. --Robert Levine