R.J. has reviewed our CD ‘Bach arranging and arranged’ for Classic FM magazine.

The quartet, hived off from the sensitive period strings of The Bach Players, performs with warm expressivity nine fugues from Bach’s 48 as set by Mozart, who showed his genius in recognising that of another. However, central to this beautifully put-together disc is Bach’s exquisite arrangement of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. Bach sets to it a German version of Psalm 51, ‘Tilge Höchster meine Sünden’, which is sung here by soprano Rachel Elliott and alto Sally Bruce-Payne, sparring delicately over the velvet accompaniment of the full ensemble. Bach improves Pergolesi – and Mozart’s enclosing take is due homage.

Classic FM magazine, February 2009