Paul McCreesh reviews

Carolyn Sampson, Anna Dennis (soprano), et al; Gabrieli/Paul McCreesh (Signum Classics)

Gabrieli Consort/Paul McCreesh (Signum)

Over two decades ago, Joshua Rifkin put theory into practice by recording Bach’s B minor Mass with just one singer to each part. Scholarly arguments over such economical forces have raged ever since, sometimes vitriolically, but McCreesh is the first to hazard them in the St Matthew Passion. The solo narrative is unaffected. Mark Padmore (Evangelist) describes events vividly, respecting Bach’s underlying recitative pulse but varying the dramatic pace freely, from perfunctory description of simple events to high drama – Peter’s weeping, Judas’s suicide.