Two things distinguished Thomas Hengelbrock's 1996 recording of Bach's B minor Mass from the many other historically informed performances of the work released in the early digital era. Where many other conductors used small mixed choirs, Hengelbrock not only used the 26-voice Bathasar-Neumann-Chor, he drew his soloists from it. And where most other conductors tended exclusively toward quick tempos, Hengelbrock mixed things up, favoring fast tempos in joyful movements and slow tempos for painful movements.
Beyond these things, however, Hengelbrock's was not a particularly distinguished B minor Mass. The Freiburger Barockorchester played with bright colors, alert rhythms, and a crisp technique. The Bathasar-Neumann-Chor sang with admirable diction, a strong tone, and a balanced ensemble. The soloists drawn from the choir were consistently reliable and some were outstanding; brawny bass Stephen McLeod for example rivaled the finest of his contemporary competition. But while these were all fine characteristics, Hengelbrock's clean and functional but by no means uninspired interpretation was matched by Brüggen's and Gardiner's, and exceeded by Herreweghe's and Leonhardt's. Superbly recorded in clean, powerful sound, this performance was certainly worth hearing by fans of historically informed B minor Mass at the time. How often it has been returned to since the first playing is known only to the individual listener.
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