Matthew Passion is a winner

With a wealth of fantastic recordings of Bach's wonderful Matthew Passion to choose from, the BBC Radio 3 presenters were always going to have their work cut out choosing a winner for the popular 'Building a Library' segment on BBC Radio 3's 'CD Review'.

Do you choose period performance or not?  Single part choir or not?  And then there's the soloists, so many great singers have contributed to recordings...

After blind listening Jeremy Summerly settled on the Dunedin Consort's recording of the Final performing version, c. 1742 declaring it 'a winner!' He went on to praise it as 'a starting point, an opportunity to consider in new light Bach's masterpiece'.  He also singled out John Butt for his 'fascinating, exemplary liner notes'.

This is the second Dunedin Consort recording that has been chosen as a First Choice 'Building a Library' recording.  In July 2009 David Vickers chose 'Acis and Galatea (Original Cannons Performing Version 1718)' describing it as 'a vivacious performance brimming with sheer happiness'.