Dunedin Consort continues to apply its pioneering approach to recordings by releasing two alternative performing versions of one of Handel’s greatest dramatic works, Samson. This is the Full Chorus Version.

This version employs an authentic Handelian chorus, comprising both boy trebles from the Tiffin Boys’ Choir and solo sopranos – a sonority largely unheard in the modern age.

This powerful oratorio – an opera in all but name – features Joshua Ellicott in the title role with soloists Sophie Bevan, Matthew Brook, Mary Bevan, Hugo Hymas, Jess Dandy, Vitali Rozynko and Fflur Wyn. Matching the revelatory historical practice begun in its award-winning recording of Messiah (Dublin Version, 1742), the soloists lead their sections to unite the solo and choral forces, creating a highly effective and cohesive sound. With rich orchestration and highlights such as ‘Let the bright seraphim’ and ‘Total eclipse’, Samson is Dunedin Consort’s most ambitious undertaking to date.

The singers available to Handel for the work’s first set of performances in 1743 varied considerably, leading many researchers to speculate upon the composer’s own preferences. Dunedin Consort has also recorded a Small Chorus Version which recreates the sonority heard at the work’s premiere in 1743 (as suggested by the research of Donald Burrows), which consists of the soloists alone. Customers who purchase the Full Chorus Version may email us to request a complimentary download of the Small Chorus Version.

This superb 2-disc set, which features the Messiah as premiered by Handel in Dublin in 1742, was named the winner of Baroque Vocal Album of the Year in the 2007 Gramophone Awards.

Following a highly anticipated televised performance at the 2023 BBC Proms, Dunedin Consort and its director John Butt now release Mozart’s ‘Great’ Mass in C minor and Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach’s Heilig ist Gott on Linn. Devised to celebrate his marriage to Constanze, but left unfinished at the composer’s death, Mozart’s Mass can clearly be traced back to the choral writing of Johann Sebastian Bach and his son, Carl Phillip Emmanuel. This musical genealogy is displayed here in a lavish double-chorus, double-orchestra feast where both works echo each other. No stranger to Mozart – the ensemble’s recording of the Requiem was a Gramophone Award Winner and Grammy-nominated – Dunedin Consort puts its stamp on these most spectacular contributions to church music.

Bach’s Six Brandenburg Concertos are essential and enduringly popular works in the Baroque orchestral repertory, full of interesting instrumentation choices and dancing melodies. Under the direction of prize-winning Bach specialist John Butt O.B.E., the ensemble has become particularly acclaimed for its inquisitive approach, shining new light into some of the best known pieces of the Baroque repertoire. Dunedin Consort, the team that brought you ‘John Passion’, is back with its first instrumental release: ‘J.S. Bach: Six Brandenburg Concertos’. Under the direction of Bach specialist John Butt, Dunedin Consort demonstrates its collective experience and historical knowledge in an exceptionally insightful and fresh performance.

The magnificent Orchestral Suites, known as “Ouvertüren” in German, form the final instalment in Dunedin Consort’s long-running Bach masterworks series for Linn, a series lauded as “nothing short of sensational” by “Gramophone”.

For the first time on record, listeners can experience Bach’s gripping John Passion within its original liturgical context. This recording of Bach’s John Passion gives listeners a refreshing outlook, shining a new light into one of the best known pieces of the choral repertoire. John Butt recreates the Good Friday Vesper liturgy of a passion performance during Bach’s time at Leipzig; in addition to the Dunedin Consort performance of Bach’s composition, this recording features music from an original Leipzig hymn book with works by Jacob Händl, J. H. Schein and J Crüger performed by a congregational choir and the University of Glasgow Chapel Choir.

John Butt directs Dunedin Consort, one of the world’s leading Baroque ensembles, in this collection of three of Bach’s finest cantatas. Together, they explore the timely themes of consolation and salvation.

The second Handel recording from the award-winning Dunedin Consort is a revelation. The album was a Finalist in the Baroque Vocal category in the 2009 Gramophone Awards.