"Sasha Cooke makes a radiant Mary opposite Roderick Williams's tenderly solicitous Joseph ... The Melbourne Symphony, meanwhile, sound very warm and plush, perhaps a bit too much so for some tastes in this work, but their playing is beautifully articulated and detailed. The set's principal strength, however, lies in the choral singing, which is superb throughout in its clarity, balance and dynamic control ... Not a first-choice recording for the work, perhaps, though the best of it is very fine indeed".