Bach: St John Passion (Concert Review - The Independent, 2003)

St John's, Smith Square, saw Stephen Layton and Polyphony offer their London version of the piece, on Good Friday. Layton brought out the intense emotion and drama from the start – the sublime opening chorus was shattering – and he pushed the story on almost breathlessly. The occasional tempo verged on the manic, but the effect was gripping. A fresh face on the British scene, the Swedish tenor Anders Dahlin's voice was beautifully clear and expressive, but he perhaps lacked the degree of presence that the Evangelist demands; Stephen Roberts made a powerful, if grandiose Christus. Gillian Keith's pure tone was a delight, though in retrospective comparison with a boy treble, it was of course a much bigger and more "knowing" sound – two different approaches, each valid in their own way.

Once again, James Bowman provided the high point of the solo singing in his moving "Es ist vollbracht". The Academy of Ancient Instruments provided most expressive obbligato playing, but the outstanding feature was the superbly unified, balanced and expressive choral singing of Polyphony – a real wonder. Which proves that, in the end, whatever degree of authenticity you go for, it's the sheer musicality that matters in a work such as this.