BACH: MASS IN B MINOR

Dorothee Mields, Johannette Zomer, Jan Kobow, Patrick van Goethem, Peter Kooij, Cappella Amsterdam, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century/Frans Brüggen Glossa GCD 921112 (2 CDs) ****

What’s the difference between performances of Bach’s B minor Mass by the current generation of early music specialists and those of the previous generation? Well, anything up to 20 minutes, not to mention the changes that have taken place in vocal, choral and instrumental timbres and styles of articulation. Frans Brüggen’s new recording, taped live in Warsaw in March 2009, is at briskish 21st-century speeds, but also retains something of the natural fervour that many contemporary period instruments conductors have chosen to eschew in favour of a manner that can seem sculpted more by precept than feeling. In short, Brüggen’s performance somehow manages to have something of the best of both worlds. See url.ie/5afh