Twenty years after the Orchestra of the 18th Century’s first engagement on tour with Bach’s Mass in B minor – a work which has for so long captivated the inquiring mind and interpretative insights of Frans Bruggen – a new tour was conceived through which to provide a fresh view of the piece. Setting down a recorded view during its tours has always been key to this orchestra’s musical expression and last year the opportunity was taken with Bach’s masterpiece: the occasion was an exciting concert in the Polish capital of Warsaw – a city and a country with whom director and orchestra have long and treasured memories. A quintet of soloists and the choral forces of Cappella Amsterdam give voice to Bruggen’s deep and experienced reading of a work for a recording which Glossa now is releasing, in association with the orchestra’s aptly-named organization, The Grand Tour. Accompanying the CD set is a booklet essay from David Vickers which provides a scholarly and eminently-readable account of the social as well as the musical background to the composition of the individual parts of a piece whose unity has provided the world with one of its greatest works of musical art. This new recording is more than a 20th anniversary celebration, reflecting as it does Frans Bruggen’s lifelong desire to understand and project the work of this extraordinary composer.