Dunedin Consort - J.S. Bach: Magnificat - The Sunday Times

It's Christmas 1723, Bach's first in Leipzig, and the new Thomaskantor has prepared a seasonal spectacular for his other church, St Nicholas's - his celebratory Magnificat with trumpets and timps, preceded by the cantata Christen, äztet diesen Tag. Butt's reconstruction of a yuletide Vespers begins with a Gabrieli motet, and he intersperses cantata movements with organ preludes, anthems and hymns for a "congregation" of 50-plus voices. His quintet of soloists are brilliant illusionists, sounding like a crowd in Omnes generationes.