JS Bach Matthew Passion - Dunedin Consort - Hi-Fi News

Directed by John Butt, this is a version of the Passion using no more than twelve singers, and with scoring based on Bach's own last performance, c.1742 (it has both organ and harpsichord continuos and an added viola da gamba). With two choirs of four singers the effect obviously differs greatly from the weightier styles of, say, Klemperer or Karajan; and Butt's use of young voices adds to the senses of intimacy and immediacy. Wonderfully lithe instrumental playing compensates for variability in female solo arias.