So much ink has been spilled over Mozart’s Requiem, you’d think it would be difficult to come up with something fresh to say on disc, and yet Raphaël Pichon’s crisp new recording is the most life-affirming account you are likely to hear.

Of course, when Mozart accepted the commission, he had no idea he would end up racing (and failing) to finish it before the Reaper cut him down. Pichon’s sleeve notes, however, choose to focus on the composer’s unusually optimistic views when it came to end of life matters.

On 4 April 1787, Mozart penned a final letter to his ailing father: “Since death (strictly considered) is the true final destination of our lives, I have, over the past few years, made myself so familiar with this true best friend of humanity that his face not only no longer holds anything terrifying for me, but even much that soothes and comforts!” he wrote. 

“I never go to bed at night without thinking that perhaps (however young I may be) I will no longer exist the following day – and yet no one among all those...