JS Bach Matthew Passion - Dunedin Consort - Independent on Sunday

John Butt's new recording of the 'Matthew Passion' with the Dunedin Consort joins Paul McCreesh's 2003 recording with the Gabrieli Consort as one of the finest available one-voice-per-part Bach performances.

Aside from Butt's use of Bach's last edition, where the second organ is replaced by a harpsichord, the differences are tonal. Where McCreesh's 'Passion' is outraged by the horror, Butt favours a more reflective tone of sorrow. His choruses are clear in texture and sensitively shaped.