Reviewer: Brian Wilson
John Butt, the Dunedin Consort
and Linn have another winner on their hands; not only are performances and
recording first-rate, with period horns much more tolerable than most, but
the SACDs and downloads are offered as two for the price of one. I’ve
already praised John Butt and his team in the two Bach Passions and b-minor
Mass, but the new release proves equally desirable. What a long way we have
come from the days when we thought Karl Münchinger the last word in the
Brandenburgs; now we even have several really good period-instrument
versions to choose from and this is by no means the least among them.
Some
musicological detective work on period practice has been involved, as explained
in the notes, which are included with the download – scholarly but not solely
aimed at specialists. The differences from other recordings are less marked than
in the case of the recent St John Passion, strikingly set within the context of
Lutheran Vespers, and they are certainly not of the obtrusive slap in the face
variety. Nothing to frighten the horses, then, but certainly not a bland
interpretation, either. I suspect that this may well become one of the versions
to which I turn most frequently in future. I’m not, however, sure how
appropriate the cover is.
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