I'm always a little skeptical about reconstructions, whether it's historic buildings or historic musical performances, especially when I see the words "as it might have looked" or "as it might have been heard". In this case--a reconstruction of the morning eucharist for the Feast of the Epiphany "as it might have been heard" at St. Thomas' church in Leipzig during Bach's time--I wonder about the long term programmatic value. How often are we going to listen to a two hour and 40 minute church service, complete with sermon (in German) and sung prayers? Granted, there is some very fine music here, from organ preludes and hymns (both accompanied and unaccompanied), to the two excellent cantatas and the Missa brevis in F major, whose borrowings and adaptations from other Bach works makes it a favorite target of purist critics, but whose six sections nevertheless are packed with phenomenal music. Obviously, the research into this project was substantial and the facts concerning the general order of the service and performance styles are accurate. And if you put aside any troublesome music critic tendencies, you actually will find much to enjoy, especially since the performances uphold a consistently high standard--and the two authentic baroque organs used, notably the Freiberg Silbermann organ, are interesting to hear. (The cool church bells that open the disc aren't bad either.) You may also be thankful that church services today are not this long--or that, as I did, you can just press the skip button and eliminate the sermon altogether.

--David Vernier