The Dunedin Consort under their long term director John Butt have presented Bach's glorious masterpiece in Edinburgh for several years now. This time they followed the Edinburgh performance on 11 April with a second in Glasgow. With great enterprise they then added a third, on a Sunday afternoon at the ancient and atmospheric St John's Kirk in Perth. They were rewarded with a packed house for what proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable event. A local language teacher was overheard to remark on the general high quality of the German diction - still not something that can always be taken for granted.
The orchestral element was quite substantial, divided into two bands each of eleven players, with an organ added for good measure. Vocally it was far more intimate, with the choirs consisting of two vocal quartets, the eight voices combining for the chorales, and dividing up the solo arias.
The first choir comprised Joanne Lunn (soprano), James Hall (counter-tenor, Hugo Hymas (tenor) and Ashley Riches (bass-baritone). The last two sang the principal solo roles of Evangelist and Christus.
The second quartet consisted of Alys Mererid Roberts (soprano), Sarah Anne Champion (mezzo-soprano), Matthew McKinney (tenor) and Frederick Long (bass-baritone).
The excellent RSNO Youth Chorus also made a positive impression in the ripieno sections.
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