Vivid presence & engagement: Peter Whelan & Irish Baroque Orchestra in Bach's Mass in B minor at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Bach: Mass in B Minor - Peter Whelan, Irish Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Bach: Mass in B minor; Rachel Redmond, Katie Bray, Hugh Cutting, Anthony Gregory, Matthew Brook, Irish Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Peter Whelan; Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
Reviewed 1 November 2025

No novelties, simply a desire to present the music in as compelling and engaged manner as possible with just ten singers and chamber forces

Having seen Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra in action at the BBC Proms and at Wigmore Hall, it was a great joy to be able to catch them on their home turf when, on Saturday 1 November 2025, the performed Bach's Mass in B minor at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin with soloists Rachel Redmond, Katie Bray, Hugh Cutting, Anthony Gregory and Matthew Brook, plus ripieno singers Aisling Kenny, Amy Wood, Laura Lamph, Christopher Bowen and William Gaunt.

Christ Church Cathedral is the elder of Dublin's two medieval cathedrals. Founded in the 11th century and rebuilt in stone in the 12 century, collapse and neglect meant that in the later 19th century George Street was brought in to renovate the building. It is now a handsome mix of surviving medieval and Victorian pastiche, complete with some superb encaustic tiles [see my post on Instagram]. The building was pretty much full for the concert and from my seat in the fourth row the acoustics proved to be surprisingly warm and sympathetic, and chatting to other audience members after the concert their experience was similar.

Like his other great late summation works such as The Art of Fugue, Bach left no clear idea of performance intentions with the Mass in B minor. Certainly, as the admirable article in the programme book by Andrew Johnstone explained, most of the movements are based on pre-existing material. But what did Bach intend? With Bach's passions, musicologists and performers can mine the surviving performance information and debate (usually rather passionately) what was intended, but with the mass performers are more on their own.

Bach: Mass in B Minor - Peter Whelan, Irish Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Thankfully, Peter Whelan cleaves to the preference for smaller forces. His five soloists were joined by five ripieno singers to create a choir and it was clear we had a vocal ensemble of ten solo singers, not a bland choral blend. They were complemented by an instrumental group of eleven strings, woodwind, trumpets and timpani, plus organ along with harpsichord played by Peter Whelan. In terms of orchestral balance, the organ/harpsichord keyboard contribution felt a little underpowered but that was the only complaint. There were no novelties, simply a desire to present the music in as compelling and engaged manner as possible.

The opening Kyrie Eleison had great strength, with a sense of the massive, the architectural, then with the fugue each line felt very present and vibrant. One of the challenges with the work is the first choral entry in this fugue, as there is a danger that the vocal parts dominate and a texture that should be an interweaving of vocal and instrumental lines turns into a choral extravaganza. Here, from the outset balance was well engineered, the strong oboe line ensured that the instrumental contribution was not string dominated, and the voices were most definitely part of the overall texture. Here and throughout the work I notice the care and attention that had been taken with the phrasing, making it very definite and rather particular.

Rachel Redmond and Katie Bray sang the Christe Eleison with lively bounce and joyful engagement. This was two vibrant but contrasting voices, both very present and supported by an instrumental ensemble with an admirably strong bass. The rich bass and strong lower strings continued in the final Kyrie Eleison, contrasting with the smooth, yet distinctly shaped vocal lines. It wasn't slow, but Whelan and his forces gave us a feeling that there was all the time in the world.

With the opening of the Gloria, Bach introduces the trumpets and drums signalling a change of mood and this was most definitely joyfully exuberant with a lively bounce to the rhythms. 'Et in terra pax' was less high tension but still very present. For 'Laudamus te', Katie Bray was joined by the solo violin of leader Kinga Ujszaszi for music that was full of vitality and dramatic flow. 'Gratias agimus' was gentler, still very present and building to a glorious climax which led to the contrast of Rachel Redmond and Anthony Gregory in a joyfully urgent 'Domine Deus' complemented by two lively flutes (Miriam Kaczor and Elisabeth Vogel). I particularly enjoyed the way the two voices moved together in the passagework.

The change in mood for 'Qui tollis' was intense, yet building on the previous movement and growing as the voices joined. Hugh Cutting sang 'Qui sedes' with lovely forward bright tone along with relish for the more elaborate figurations. And he was complemented by Andreas Helm's fine oboe solo. For 'Quoniam to solus sanctus', Matthew Brook was joined at the front by solo horn, Anneke Scott with the two bassoons, Lisa Goldberg and Fergus Butt, also being featured. The result was enthusiastically vigorous with Brook's resolute bass line almost trenchant at times. The final 'Cum Sancto Spirito' chorus was taken fast, full of vim and vigour with the singers giving it a real sense of urgency, along with making us admire the sheer bravura of their individual performances.

This Missa, the Kyrie and Gloria pairing, was created in 1733 as part of Bach's bid to get a title of court composer at the Saxon court chapel in Dresden, so we can envisage him anticipating the music being performed by the sort of virtuoso vocal ensemble used by the chapel. The remaining movements of the mass remain more speculative, Bach creating a complete work for posterity and for God rather than a particular performance.

Bach: Mass in B Minor - Matthew Brook, Anneke Scott, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

The Credo began with extreme urgency, not only fast but the meaning of the words compelling too. The following chorus continued the urgency with a sense of vigorous chatter amongst the vocal lines. Rachel Redmond and Hugh Cutting were two contrasting but very sophisticated voices in 'Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum' yet there was a no nonsense feel to the movement too. However, time was suspended in 'Et incarnatus est' with vivid lines unfolding towards a strong climax. In 'Crucifixus' the singers really dug into the words supported by strong accents from the instrumentalists giving the whole movement a very definite feel.

By contrast, 'Et resurrexit' was exuberant the trumpets and drums returning to notable effect. Everything bright and vigorous at first, leading to some dazzling fast passagework, with bravura moments from the two basses. Matthew Brook sang 'Et in Spiritum Sanctum' with a fine lilt and a real sense of meaning to the words, complemented by lovely wind playing. 'Confiteor unum baptisma' began bring and urgent but then suddenly, when contemplating the resurrection, time suspended again. The final chorus began bleakly with plangent tone from the voices, yet developed into something vividly vigorous at the expectation of the life to come. There was urgency and meaning here, along with some spectacular fast singing!

The two choirs in the Sanctus were strongly contrasted, with airy melismas against strong chords, leading to vigour and unrestrained exuberance in 'pleni sunt coeli', with disciplined joy in the 'Osanna'. Anthony Gregory's solo in the Benedictus had lovely fine-grained tone allied to a strong sense of line with a welcome slight edge to it plus a nice ease at the top, complemented by some fine flute playing with care over the phrasing.

Bach: Mass in B Minor - Hugh Cutting, Peter Whelan, Andreas Helm, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Hugh Cutting gave us plenty of beautiful tone in his solo in the Agnus Dei, allied to an expansive sense in the phrasing, making some seem endless. 'Dona nobis pacem' began concentrated and restrained, with a slow build to the climax.

This was a remarkably satisfying performance with great musicality from all concerned allied to musicological decisions which supported the music. There was nothing there simply for its own sake, and overall a wonderful sense of vital presence from both singers and instrumentalists under Peter Whelan's inspired direction.

Never miss out on future posts by following us

The blog is free, but I'd be delighted if you were to show your appreciation by buying me a coffee.

Elsewhere on this blog

• Il viaggio a Reims: members of the Wexford Factory dazzle in Rossini's occasional showpiece despite moving the action to an asylum - opera review
• Deidamia: a welcome chance to catch Handel's final Italian opera in Wexford, though the production feels a little self-indulgent - review
• Different musical accents: Le Trouvère, Verdi's French revision of Il trovatore receives a rare outing in Wexford - opera review 
• There was no closure here: four Irish women composers give voice to women of the Magdalene Laundries in Oxford - concert review 
• Lyric beauty & great storytelling: tenor Hugo Brady & pianist Mark Rogers in Moore's Melodies at Oxford International Song Festival - concert review
• Baba Yaga: Songs and Dances of Death: Rowan Hellier pushes boundaries with music theatre exploring a figure from Slavic folklore - review
• Focus on Shostakovich: tenor Oliver Johnston's fearlessness & speaker Philip Ross Bullock in engaging form in Oxford - concert review
• Valentin Berlinsky: marking the centenary of founder and cellist of the Borodin String Quartet - concert review
• Thinking about sound: Grieg's Lyric Pieces on a modern piano from Alexander Ullmann & on historic pianos with unequal temperament from Ziad Kreidy - record review
• Home