Music / Christe, du Lamm Gottes; Canberra Bach Ensemble. At St Christopher’s Cathedral, February 15. Reviewed by MICHAEL WILSON.

By now Canberra audiences in general, and afficionados of the music of JS Bach in particular, can rely on the Canberra Bach Ensemble to deliver high-quality, historically-informed and authentic performances.

This program of Bach liturgical works composed for the church calendar immediately before Lent was no exception.

Ensemble director Andrew Koll is a scholar of Bach, and his deep understanding of Bach’s special craft in the context of Christian scripture is a special and fascinating gift, conveyed through the comprehensive program notes.

The first half of the program comprised two cantatas, BWV 22 (Jesus took aside the Twelve) and BWV 23 (Jesus you true God, son of David) in the Bach catalogue.

The first work began with a precisely-delivered chorale, choir in perfect balance in the surprisingly live acoustic of St Christopher’s. The space favours higher frequencies, making the high strings of the orchestra stand out nicely, and allowing sopranos and altos to be clearly heard. Strings performed tightly, although the violins had a couple of muddy moments. Later in the concert, this bright acoustic complemented the baroque oboes and horns.

The four soloists, Greta Claringbould (soprano), Maartje Sevenster (alto), Timothy Reynolds (tenor) and Andrew Fysh (bass) are now so experienced with this ensemble that blend, tone and mood-matching are second-nature. All were in fine form, generally balancing well with the orchestra, solo instruments and continuo throughout, with only the oboes dominating the women’s’ voices on a couple of occasions.

Reynolds’ pure tenor has the ability to penetrate whatever else is going on, even in his lower register, resonating to the back of the hall. Fysh is able to function across the range of lyric baritone to true bass, but in this performance used the lighter colour in his voice which matched the lower instruments nicely.

In the second half, after a choral prelude BWV 619 and third cantata, BWV 127 (Lord Jesus Christ, true human and God), the audience was treated to the full Mass in F Major BWV 233, interweaving the traditional Latin mass with the German adaptation of Martin Luther.

This highlight, both musically familiar and unpredictable, provided every part of the ensemble (minus recorders, which were a highlight in the earlier cantatas) an opportunity to show their proficiency.

The sopranos and altos sang expressive, moving lines over the long-sounded notes from the tenors and basses and continuo from the orchestra in the Kyrie.

The bright horns shone in the Gloria. Fysh was percussive and tremulous in the Domine Deus. The soprano duet with the oboe in the Qui Tollis was tricky and required stamina from both. The alto solo with solo violin and continuo in the Quoniam was a daunting task, but exquisitely accomplished.

This concert was a masterclass in Bach’s approach to the liturgy. Koll’s always sparing conducting – often opting to beat in one or two to the bar when beating in three or four would be forgivable – kept tempos moving lightly and insistently along.

The choir as usual was superb, especially with diction, blend and dynamics.