50 years into the early music revival, any conductor performing a major work by Bach has first to deal with a deluge of questions about how he/she is going to realise the score with the musicians under his direction. How many voices to a part? Trebles in the Chorales? Which edition? .. the list is endless. The performance offered by Kevin Duggan directing the Rosenethe Singers last Sunday evening managed to effectively embrace tradition - but this satisfying performance was never in any way routine.

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The Choir have had something of a musical new beginning since the arrival of Mr Duggan, which can be expressed in one word - engagement. In this performance the choral contributions were not a comfortable painted backcloth to the unfolding drama but a "chorus of characters" bursting to exclaim (sometimes in as little as 4 bars) their direct involvement in the narrative. In such moments the choir sang with an almost operatic intensity, which, under Duggan's direction, never disrespected baroque sensibility. A balancing act.. and a good one! The singing during the Chorales was full of light and shade and effective verbal expression which contrasted and complimented the rhythmically alert "crowd scenes" beautifully. A performance of this standard highlights that there must have been consistent concentrated work undertaken during the rehearsal period to arrive at such a depth of detail. A performance to be proud of, and a major success for Mr Duggan.

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The Choir were supported by their regular partners The Scottish Bach Players under Angus Ramsay whose contribution was noteworthy and included some beautiful obligati during the evening's performance. Special mention must be made of the very skilled "basse continue" players who managed to be responsive to the solo singers during those miles of secco recitatives while never dominating musically. The balanced integration between singers and continuo was for me one of the major delights of this performance.