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Bach: Mass in B minor (CD Review - The Sunday Times, 2018)
Scholarly scruples about Bach’s recycling of material from earlier works, even secular cantatas, can never diminish the stature of his late, great Mass in a performance as uplifting and invigorating as this. Layton makes no claims to “authenticity” with his mixed young-adult choir - sounding wonderfully fresh and athletic - and mature soloists. In any case, the composer probably never heard his ch
Bach: Mass in B minor (CD Review - Allmusic.com, 2018)
The Bach Mass in B minor, BWV 232, assembled from bits and pieces over some years, coheres in its final form in ways that perhaps only the composer understood. This recording by the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Stephen Layton has been road-tested in performances around Britain for several years, but it hasn't lost the enthusiasm of its youthful
Bach: Mass in B minor (CD Review - Gramophone, 2018)
When Jonathan Freeman-Attwood reviewed the rather good B minor Mass from Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo (11/14), he spoke of it plugging an ‘obvious gap’ in Hyperion’s Bach catalogue. He was probably not to know that within four years the label would be issuing another B minor, not only sharing one of the same soloists (and, for the record, one choral singer and two players), but also the same produ
Bach: St John Passion (Concert Review - Seen and Heard International, 2017)
An account of the St John Passion that brought home the true meaning of Easter Bach’s St John Passion has been the subject of intense debate in the US in recent years because of what some perceive as anti-Semitic references within the work. This has as much to do with the original source material as the libretto. St John’s Gospel was written at a time when the nascent Christian Church was breaki
Bach: B minor Mass (Concert Review - Music OMH, 2016)
Bach referred to the ‘Kyrie’ and ‘Gloria’ of his Mass in B minor as “an insignificant example of my musical skill” but the work as a whole might be better described as one of the most significant creations of civilization. It is a work which demands the most virtuosic of players and singers, and the most inspired direction, and to hear the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge and the Orchestra of th
Bach: St John Passion (Concert Review - publikart.net, 2016)
La Passion selon Saint Jean au Théâtre des Champs Elysées La Passion selon Saint Jean de Jean-Sébastien Bach a fait étape au Théâtre des Champs Elysées avec Stephen Layton à la baguette. Le maestro britannique dirigeait l’Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment le mercredi 23 mars pour une version puissante et émouvante de l’oeuvre monumentale du compositeur germanique. Le public de l’institution mu