Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv Productions' 22-disc set of
J.S. Bach's sacred choral works isn't a complete traversal of the composer's choral music, but the major and best-known works are all here, plus a number of more obscure ones. The Mass in B minor, the St. Matthew and St. John Passions, the Christmas Oratorio, and the Magnificat are included, as well as 35 cantatas. The compilation reissues all of the performances that
John Eliot Gardiner, leading the
Monteverdi Choir and the original instrument orchestra, the
English Baroque Soloists, recorded between 1983 and 2000 for Philips or Deutsche Grammophon.
Gardiner and his forces, outstanding talents and leading proponents of historically informed performance practice, deliver splendid accounts of
Bach's vibrant music. Many of the recordings have been hailed as among the finest ever of these pieces and have been showered with awards and honors. The soloists, some of the brightest Baroque singers of the late 20th century, include
Emma Kirkby,
Bernarda Fink,
Magdalena Kozená,
Anne Sofie von Otter,
Sara Mingardo,
Derek Lee Ragin,
Mark Padmore, and
Anthony Rolfe Johnson. The recorded sound, it almost goes without saying, is engineered at the very high standards for which Philips and DG are known. With a list price of just over two dollars a disc, the compilation is a remarkable bargain. This is a set that fans of
Bach, or of Baroque music, or of stellar vocal and choral singing will not want to miss.