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Notes
For its very first excursion on Chandos, the Crouch End Festival Chorus presents a landmark recording of J.S. Bach’s St John Passion sung in English – the first for over forty-five years.
With communicative zeal, beautiful articulation, and focused energy, this choir of more than 100 voices lends precision and power to the performance alongside the instruments of the Bach Camerata, one of the finest UK baroque orchestras, all under the inspired direction of David Temple.
The essence of the work is the conveying of a human story underpinned by the universal themes of love, betrayal, loss, and hope. The performance in English allows the drama and visceral energy of the work to go straight to the heart of the English-speaking listener. The narrative is immediately understood, and the power of the storytelling imbues Bach’s music with extra freshness and meaning.
Thanks to an array of superb soloists and orchestral musicians, the new recording brings those qualities together in a performance which will present a well-loved piece in a completely new light, and appeal to existing and future generations of music-lovers alike.
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Reviews
“… Her [Bevan] voice is powerful, but unequivocally feminine … Robin Blaze is one of the outstanding countertenors of the current generation, and he turns in a very strong performance here. His eloquent reading of ‘It Is Fulfilled’ is the finest performance on the recording. David Temple, the regular director of the Crouch End Festival Chorus, deserves a good deal of credit as a choir trainer. This large chorus is remarkably well disciplined, with amazingly tight ensemble…”
William J Gatens – American Record Guide – March/April 2018
“...The Bach Camerata play with idiomatic certainty and utter conviction, the 100-plus voices of the Crouch End Festival Chorus intensely fervent, yet exquisitely nuanced. In a word: essential” *****
Michael Quinn - classicalear.co.uk - 12 June 2017
"... enthusiastic, upfront singing and an impressive, effusive body of sound from a massed choir ... The use of English also spurs the vocal soloists on to a vivid narrative presence, which, in turn, results in a thoroughly dramatic and engaging interpretation for the listener..." ****
Curtis Rogers - ClassicalSource.com - July 2017
"... beautifully recorded, and drawing on a new performing edition in English, features a more traditional, in the best sense, performance from David Temple, and a larger than usual today choir, The Crouch End Festival Chorus. This is excellent ...”
David Mellor – ClassicFM – 18 April 2017
Performance **** Recording ****
“...there’s plenty to recommend a recording – purposefully conducted by David Temple ...”
Paul Riley – BBC Music magazine – May 2017
"I've lost count of how many times I've been asked for an English-language recording of the John Passion (this one's the first commercial version in over four decades!), and the clarity of the translation here is but one of this set's virtues: add a fiercely committed chorus, radiant solo singing, and a conductor with a firm grasp on the work's architecture and you have a winner."
Katherine Cooper - Presto Classical - 5 April 2017
“...Congratulations to all concerned on producing such a buoyant, absorbing and sonically thrilling recording.”
Malcolm Riley – Gramophone magazine – April 2017
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Bach: St John Passion, sung in English - David Temple, CEFC, Bach Camerata (TRAILER)
Bach: St John Passion, sung in English - David Temple, CEFC, Bach Camerata (Extended version)