Vaughan Williams conducts Bach's St Matthew Passion (Pearl, 2 CDs)

   There are unlikely to be many recordings in this year of Bach
   celebrations quite as singular as this.  Pearl's new set (GEMS 0079)
   was recorded under Vaughan Williams at the Leith Hill Musical Festival
   in 1958, the last performance by the 85-year-old composer, given just
   five months before his death.  To our ears today, it's a reading with
   the fervency and style of another era.  Vaughan Williams loathed the
   sound of the harpsichord, so piano and electric organ are used as
   continuo.  The chorus is large, the orchestral bass-line bulky, the
   tempo adjustments blatant.  It was a performance attuned in style,
   pacing, and even length, to its conductor's view of 20th-century
   taste.  All in all, a remarkable document in the history of performing
   style, as well as of one creative genius's commentary on another.

   - Michael Dervan From IRISH TIMES, March 17th, 2000

James Kearney
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