"Ligesom de kantater, der udgør Bachs Juleoratorium, er hans mindre kendte påskeoratorium en slags kirkekantate skabt ved genbrug af verdslig musik. Det er den sene 40-minutters version, Bach-eksperten Gardiner har nyindspillet. Hans kor og solister er fabelagtige"
"Vurdering: Recording of the month" - "What an exuberant, rich and dancing paean of praise and thanksgiving this is in the hands of Gardiner and his musicians ... This is an outstanding addition to Gardiner's Bach discography"
""In Actus Tragicus Gardiner toys delectably with Bach's meticulously textured dissonances ... The Easter Oratorio could not provide a greater contrast ... There is the customary razzle and dazzle from the virtuoso Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists ... Gardiner is clearly convinced of its merits and therefore you'll find no greater advocate"
BBC music magazine, 2014 June
"For all the Pascal jubilation of the Oratorio, it's the simple, unaffected solace of the Actus Tragicus, however, that steals the show ... Gardiner slims down his forces from the 23 voices of the Oratorio down to a dozen. His tempos are beautifully interrelated so that everything leads to (and from) the central pause that consigns the mystery of death to utter silence"
