In 2000, John Eliot Gardiner led the Monteverdi Choir on a 93-concert, 198-work pilgrimage throughout Europe and the US to perform all Bach's cantatas on the 250th anniversary of the composer's death. Now he has formed his own record label to release the results: SDG, or Soli Deo Gloria, the dedicatory initials Bach appended to his scores. Organised by liturgical feasts, the first two double albums contain the cantatas for the Feast of St John the Baptist and the 1st, 15th and 16th Sundays after Trinity. With first-rank soloists, not to mention extracts from Gardiner's diary of the trip, this handsomely packaged series is one to start collecting.

The Observer