BBC Proms: Bach’s Mass writ large as Arcangelo give us choral bravura at Royal Albert Hall

Bach: Mass in B Minor – Arcangelo – BBC Proms (Photo: BBC / Chris Christodoulou)

Bach: Mass in B minor; Jeanine De Bique, Eva Zaïcik, Hugh Cutting, Nick Pritchard, Florian Störtz, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen; BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall
Reviewed 10 September 2026

Bach write large as Arcangelo fills the Royal Albert Hall with sound without compromising on technique or choral bravura

The Baroque era was often intensely pragmatic when it came to performance, presenting opera in large outdoor venues where we must imagine it was the visual spectacle that counted, or scaling up Handel’s music for large-scale commemorations in Westminster Abbey. We have to assume that Bach, ever a practical musician, would have taken such a similar view face with the opportunity to perform his music to a large audience (something that never happened, alas). 

Performing a work like Bach’s Mass in B minor in the Royal Albert Hall presents similar challenges. There is a 1929 recording of Walter Widdop applying his heroic tenor tones to the Benedictus from the Mass in B minor (from the work’s first complete recording). The style is not what we appreciate nowadays but the style and amplitude probably represent what might work best in the Albert Hall!

It is in this spirit that we must approach Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo‘s performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday 10 September 2026 as part of the BBC Proms. The ensemble has been performing the Mass in B minor this summer with the usual smaller forces, but for the Royal Albert Hall, Cohen went large with forces that looked all set for Beethoven’s Choral Symphony. There were 50 choral singers (both male and female altos) and an orchestra of 25 strings plus four flutes, four oboes and two bassoons, with only a lone organ and Cohen himself (intermittently) on harpsichord. They were joined by soloists Jeanine De Bique (soprano), Eva Zaïcik (mezzo-soprano), Hugh Cutting (counter-tenor), Nick Pritchard (tenor) and Florian Störtz (bass-baritone).

Bach: Mass in B Minor – Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen – BBC Proms (Photo: BBC / Chris Christodoulou)

Not everything worked by a long chalk. Neither continuo keyboard (organ and harpsichord) made a significant contribution to the sound in any but the quietest passages. The soloists were variable in their ability to project fully into the auditorium, though this might be down to whether they had previous experience of the hall. But my biggest issue was the discrepancy between choir and orchestra, as soon as the choir entered in the first Kyrie fugue, the balance favoured the singers and what we heard became a choral work rather than the collaborative exercise that it should be. When the choir was going full pelt, it was simply impossible to hear any of the detail in the string writing, though thankfully the instrumental bass line was impressively strong. The passages where we heard the orchestra alone were thus even more treasured.

The soloists sang only the solos as in a traditional performance, though Cohen used all five as a vocal ensemble instead of the choir in the ‘Confiteor’ at the end of the Credo. This is very lightly scored instrumentally and made for a magical moment.

What lifted the whole evening was the sheer quality of the performance. We might have had a choir of fifty but their sheer technical skill, bravura, vocal beauty and, yes, sheer chutzpah was terrific and impressive. Cohen’s speeds took no prisoners and we heard singers who were well able to match his demands and bring a sense of engaging joy too.

The opening of the Kyrie was a stake in the ground, massive and LOUD. In the fugue we were treated to beautifully shaped and pointed singing allied to an expressive range of choral dynamics. Jeanine De Bique and Eva Zaïcik made a seductive and characterful pairing in ‘Christe eleison’ with a robus choral fugue to finish.

Bach: Mass in B Minor – Florian Störtz, Ursula Paludan Monberg, Arcangelo – BBC Proms (Photo: BBC / Chris Christodoulou)

The opening of the Gloria had a wonderful bounce and of course three trumpets to reinforce the joy. The later quiet sections in the fugue were in many ways glorious. Zaïcik returned for ‘Laudamus te’. A very engaged performance, her tone plangent and complemented by a finely present violin solo. The chorus’s smooth tone in ‘Gratias agimus’ built to something impressively rich, leading to a lightly tripping account of the duet ‘Domine Deus’ from De Bique and Pritchard. The two soloists provided a nice differentiation of tone and both brought engaging delicacy to the music. A sombre ‘Qui tollis’ led to Hugh Cutting’s aria, ‘Qui sedes’, his vibrant performance complemented by a nice chestnutty oboe. Additionally Cutting managed to convey directly to the hall that this piece, these words meant something. Florian Störtz brought a sense of civilised swagger to ‘Quoniam’, his tone perhaps not really carrying in the hall and he was to a certain extent overshadowed by Ursula Paludan Monberg fantastic horn playing. The final chorus was fast and vibrant, with a surprising lightness of touch in the fugue.

The opening choruses of the Credo combined a nice bounce in the orchestral bass with wonderfully trenchant choral delivery. In the ‘Et in unum’ duet from De Bique and Cutting, he won (just) in the vibrant presence stakes but both contributed some lovely singing. The choruses following were by turns light, intense, trenchant and brilliant, the choir displaying wonderfully versatilly. Störtz brought a sophisticated sense of style to ‘Et in Spiritum Sanctum’, perhaps not filling the hall but certainly well worth concentrating on. The following chorus was the one sung by the the soli as and ensemble, finishing the Credo with a little bit of magic.

Bach: Mass in B Minor – Nick Pritchard, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen – BBC Proms (Photo: BBC / Chris Christodoulou)

For the Sanctus the chorus combined lush tone with vivid sound, following this with crisp bounce. The brought briskness to the Osanna but we were then able to relish the long orchestral postlude. Nick Pritchard was joined by a fine flute solo for the Benedictus. He sang with fine-grained tone, making you come to him but drawing you in with beautiful lyric singing. Hugh Cutting also brought beauty of tone, concentrated power and fine phrasing to the Agnus Dei, then the chorus came in with hushed tone that gradually intensified to the end.