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In 2011 Rolf Martinsson, one of Sweden’s internationally as well as nationally most recognized contemporary composers, received a request from 12 Swedish choirs, in collaboration with the study organisation Sensus, to compose a sacred work. As is well known Sweden has a rich choral tradition and the intention of the new work, based on the Bible’s Gospel of St. Luke contrasted with contemporary texts by Göran Greider, was that it should be accessible and affordable to most choirs in the country. This resulted in a St. Luke Passion for choir, smaller instrumental ensemble (six instruments only), two soloists (soprano – Evangelist, baritone – Jesus) and a Narrator. The composer has kept the choral as well as instrumental parts on a manageable technical level, whilst the solo parts demand professional interpreters. Martinsson has chosen to highlight the drama of the story by painting the Bible texts in the style of a Baroque Passion, whereas he mirrors Greider’s texts in his own musical language. This dramatic tension has engaged audiences, as well as inspired interpreters, since the 12 co-commissioning choirs held their respective premiers in spring 2012. The recording was made live during three consecutive days in the attractive acoustics of the spacious Växjö Cathedral – an impressive building with the characteristic twin towers, a photo of which adorns the booklet. About 830 visitors can be seated in the cathedral, the history of which goes back to the Middle Ages. The interior, however, bears the stamp of far-reaching renovations during the 19th and 20th centuries. The Oratorio Choir, founded in 1974 , has since the start concentrated on large-scale works like Bach’s Passions and B minor Mass, Handel’s Messiah and Brahms’s Requiem. It is a fine body with homogenous sonority and powerful fortes. The group of instrumentalists is likewise excellent and the balance between voices and instruments is skilfully handled. The narrator, Mark Levengood, is a well-known personality in Swedish TV and Radio and his Finno-Swedish accent is a pleasure to listen to. Unfortunately the solo singers are less of an asset. Soprano Lisa Larsson, who was one of the loveliest Zerlinas I’ve ever heard more than twenty years ago, has lost much of her beautiful tone and adopted both a disturbing vibrato and a regrettable shrillness. Fortunately she has retained her expressivity and good handling of the text. This also goes for Peter Boman, whose sturdy baritone serves him well in the recitatives, but he too lacks the tonal beauty one longs for in the lyrical moments.