Johann Sebastian Bach: Soli Deo Gloria (6DVD, Br-Klassik)

The Bach project started in 2010 with the Bavarian Radio Choir under the direction of Peter Dijkstra comes to an end with the complete recording of the Mass in B minor, which was recorded in April 2016 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residence. It now includes Bach’s four summit works, the three Protestant oratorios and the great Catholic mass in outstanding artistic quality, with renowned vocal soloists and accompanied by top-class ensembles of historical performance practice: three works were created in collaboration with Concerto Köln, another with the Akademie für Early Music Berlin. The baroque musical splendor is in the foreground in these works; contemplative moments and the intimate chorales are also essential components of the solemn oratorios. For many, Christmas is almost unthinkable without Bach’s Christmas Oratorio or Holy Week without one of his great passion music. Whether you experience them in a concert or from the DVD: they are always a real treat. What makes the live recordings published here so special that you should definitely add them to your collection are the unused voices of the young and excellent vocal soloists, the crystal-clear sound, which is repeatedly praised in the highest tones, and the immense plasticity of the Bavarian Radio Choir under the direction of Peter Dijkstra and of course the two renowned original sound ensembles. And it is also the lively live atmosphere of real concert events that thrilled the audience and even managed to elicit the adjective enchanting from the Munich reviewers, a rare, but in this case well-deserved praise! The representative box with Bach’s St. John and St. Matthew Passions, the Mass in B minor and the Christmas Oratorio contains a total of 6 DVDs.