The soloists were Kristen Witmer (Soprano), Ulrike Malotta (Alto), David Munderloh (Tenor) and Peter Kooij (Bass) - and they each gave fantastic aria performances throughout the two cantatas. Kristen Witmer’s performance of V: 'Selee, deine Spezerein’ in the Easter Oratorio was particularly splendid and the flute obligato, played by Leonard Schelb, was brilliant. The choir were excellent throughout, and they even stood for the whole performance, often waiting for a long time between choruses. The first oboe player and soloist in BWV 1060, Susanne Regel, was in excellent form and she played brilliant solos in the Easter Oratorio as well as the concerto.

The church had a high ceiling and a fantastic acoustic. The building (particularly the ceiling) reminded me of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. The way the orchestra had been laid out was particularly pleasing and it really worked in this space. On the right hand side, on the front row there was (from right to left) the bassoonist, the oboes and the flutes, leading into the first violins. Behind the woodwind (from right to left) there was double bass, organ, cello, violas and 2nd violins. Then the trumpet and timpani section were behind the 1st violins - so everything in the whole ensemble was in pitch order - or if you think about it (from the way Bach laid out his scores) the highest line of Bach’s score (1st trumpet) was the furthest to the left of the ensemble and everything else is in descending order of pitch, the further right you pan. It really worked well and everybody seemed to have enough room and good contact with one another.