Until recently, performances of Bach's two surviving musical retellings of Jesus's death often used bloated orchestras, choruses, and industrial strength modern instruments and tunings that violated what scholars believe to be the composer's intentions, and rendered it an impenetrable, oversized musical monument rather than an intimate musical drama. Bach's score doesn't specify how many singers and players to use, but long-time PBO music director and veteran English early music violinist Monica Huggett has found that a small (a dozen each) chorus and orchestra make the porridge taste just right. Last spring's transcendent PBO performances of this music -my favorite of several dozen classical concerts I heard last year, and one of the finest I've ever experienced -demonstrated the aptness of that approach, achieving an ideal combination of power and intimacy. Abetted by the outstanding Portland chorus Cappella Romana and uniformly superb soloists from Canada's Le Voix Baroque, PBO's bracing, crisp, urgent and emotionally searing recording is the most gripping I've heard - including others performed in the tunings and styles and on the instruments Bach knew. It makes PBO's recent partnership with the Oregon Bach Festival (once a major perpetrator of anachronistic Passion performances) all the more welcome.