'Tis that time of year again. Lent, Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter are just around the corner, so it's time for all of us to repent, suffer and rejoice simultaneously. It's also the time of year when most classical music labels release their seasonal offerings. So every year at this time there's a resurgence in new recordings of one of the big guns in the Easter arsenal, the St Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).

One of the early reviews I posted on this website, about 14 years ago now, was for a recording on the Alpha label, of the Missae Breves by Bach, performed by a then young Pygmalion ensemble. More recently, I also posted a review for their recording of the Bach Motets. In both recordings I was highly impressed with their sense of spontaneity, and their committed and lively delivery. As if they were taking part in something meaningful and eventful. Suffice it to say that the same level of integrity applies here as well.

Let's take the dramatic introduction for example. Most HIP (Historically Informed Performances) are too fast, too light and sonically bone dry. And at the other end of the spectrum you have interpretations by eminent conductors like Klemperer or Karajan which are so slow, sombre and stern, that you would think they were performing a Requiem mass. Here on the other hand, director Raphaël Pichon strikes the perfect balance between poignancy and buoyancy which propels the music forward naturally. And the same applies to the final chorus, where the individual instrumental strands merge perfectly with the choral forces to create a rich harmonic tapestry. Another fine example is the beautiful alto aria Erbarme dich, mein Gott about halfway through. I don't believe I've ever heard it sound so emotionally human. The orchestral and vocal parts complement each other perfectly here. I could go on and on there are so many heartfelt passages.

In the booklet notes, when asked why the St Matthew Passion is still so well-known and important today, Raphaël Pichon replies: "Because the St Matthew Passion is one of the most moving experiences of our common humanity that it is possible to share! The story of the Passion of Christ remains today a living drama and moral dilemma of universal relevance, in which - whatever our spirituality or culture - all of us are confronted with our own mortality, our own search for answers. We all share its humanity. In quite unprecedented fashion, Bach conveys and makes us feel the fragility and failings of humanity and describes a world gone awry, where love and faith are the only answers. In seeking to challenge and console the human conscience, he offers us genuine 'balm for the soul', universal and timeless." He, and the ensemble Pygmalion, certainly capture and project the profound human spirit behind every single note.