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Myung-Whun Chung established his Verdi credentials with an outstanding Otello that combined dramatic fervor with lyric delicacy. Those attributes categorize this performance of Verdi's late Sacred Pieces. Verdi conceived of the first three pieces as a dramatic unit--an a capella, gentle ode to the Virgin Mary flanked by a large-scale Stabat Mater and a Te Deum that recalls his great Requiem in scale and intensity. The fourth piece, tacked on by Verdi's publisher, is an austerely gentle and harmonically adventurous "Ave Maria." Chung adds two more Ave Marias, including Desdemona's from Otello, and concludes the disc with the "Libera me, Domine" originally written for a multicomposer commemorative mass for Rossini. Verdi later adapted the entire movement to his Requiem and it's fascinating to hear this first sketch for that terror-laden work. Here, it and the Otello aria are adequately sung by Carmela Remigio. Chorus and orchestra are first-rate, Chung masterful. --Dan Davis