There is a natural attraction in a live performance of Bach’s choral masterpiece made in the church where he worked and is now buried, performed by (the successors of) the choir that he directed. The work’s high points (by which I mean the fugal numbers) come across with all the requisite grandeur, and it’s they that find this performance at its best, musically speaking. In the opening section of the Credo, however, one senses the trebles flagging, unless it’s those held notes that are overly taxing: once the ‘Patrem’ kicks in, things improve noticeably. The absence of pathos in the ‘Crucifixus’ is in its own way very poignant, drawing attention to the formula of the descending bass by failing to overload it until the hushed tones of the conclusion (which are here more a matter of orchestration than interpretation). More hushed still is the conclusion of the ‘Confiteor’: the transition from its fugue to the ‘Et exspecto’ is nicely done, though the very final passage momentarily loses focus.

The solo numbers are more of a mixed bag, for while fully committed and more than competent, the singers rarely command one’s attention as they might, while their instrumental counterparts experience occasional slips in negotiating their walk-on roles. (A notable exception is the ‘Et in Spiritum Sanctum’ in the Credo, where the oboes d’amore truly shine.) That said, Georg Christoph Biller’s direction is sympathetic and self-effacing, and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra more than the sum of their parts.

The same might be said of the project as a whole, for while this may not be the most authoritative account of this much-loved work, the sense of occasion that a live recording imparts is palpable; so, for that matter, is the sense of focused music-making, tempered by a discreet but distinct camaraderie (among the boy trebles, certainly, but with the adults as well). Sound and visuals function well, the camerawork keeping things moving without undue distraction. It is always refreshing to watch period instruments being performed: the corno da caccia in the ‘Quoniam tu solus’ you really could watch (and hear) all day…