there’s plenty to recommend a recording – purposefully conducted by David Temple – that also swims against the tide with a hefty 100-plus chorus mustering venom aplenty. The solo line-up is without a weak link; among its glories Sophie Bevan’s deeply affecting ‘Zerfliesse, mein Herze’, Benjamin Hulett’s finely nuanced ‘Erwage’, and Robin Blaze’s exquisitely judged ‘Es ist vollbracht’. Robert Murray’s Evangelist holds everything together with narrative acuity.

…one will struggle to find more committed, well-balanced, agile and crisp singing than that of the Crouch End Festival Chorus, who are on top form throughout. Frankly none of the soloists could be bettered, nor the superb continuo team. Congratulations to all concerned on producing such a buoyant, absorbing and sonically thrilling recording.

Sung in English, rather than the original German, with considerable gusto by the Crouch End Festival Chorus, it bears all the best aspects of the tradition of choral society performances in the UK: enthusiastic, upfront singing and an impressive, effusive body of sound from a massed choir.

its drama and emotional potency derive from the deeply felt, musically sublime and spiritually ardent performances marshalled with palpable intensity by David Temple. Wholly authentic and immediate, John Jenkins’s eloquent New Novello Choral Edition is, in itself, something of a marvel, prompting richly characterised contributions from all concerned