Reviews

CD-review: Bach motets

17.06.2008

[...] “It is said of Bach that he is first and foremost an instrumentalist. So the vocal should be subordinate to the instrumental. The young conductor Peter Dijkstra clearly has different views on the subject, which he sets out convincingly in his introduction to this CD. Bach expresses text. And text means voice. Thus the vocal aspect must be paramount in this case, and that means that the voice should be produced according to its true character, with a natural feeling for syntax.
It is only fitting to judge the recording on the basis of this criterion laid down by the conductor himself. And in that case it has to be said above all that he succeeds masterfully in interpreting the written music in a proclamatory way, such that in the acoustics of the Waalse Kerk even the most subtle passages achieve eloquence.” [...]
“Magnificent and educational – highly recommended!”