Topic: Bach Johannes-Passion / St. John Passion

[Gorio1968]

Preferences may be subjective, tastes may be personal when the dust settles Bach is still Bach.

Thank you all for making me feel welcome.

[Que]

Time to read up on the recommendations! 

Q

[aukhawk]

I remember the shock of listening to a friend's Benjamin Britten recording of St. John Passion in English which I would still recommend to anyone who wanted to listen to the Passion with a very different interpretation.

Britten was a fine conductor and performer of Bach - thanks for reminding me.

[Jo498]

I just remembered that I have Britten's recording in that big Britten conducts non-Britten box. TBH I am not sure I ever listened to it. The Brandenburgs were quite good if one does not insist on HIP style but the Johannespassion in English and 60s style seemed rather daunting. But I will listen to it this lenten season.

[aukhawk]

(Off-topic) Britten's harpsichord solo in the 5th Brandenburg Concerto is probably the best I've ever heard.  I also saw him live conducting Purcell's Fairy Queen in a rather small venue (can't remember where, now) - seemed like as many performers as audience - that was a blast!

[(: premont :)]

(Off-topic) Britten's harpsichord solo in the 5th Brandenburg Concerto is probably the best I've ever heard. 

It was played by Philip Ledger.

[aukhawk]

Really?!  Well I sit corrected, thanks.  It's still my favourite solo.

[aligreto]

Cross post from the Listening Thread:

Bach: St. John Passion [Bruggen]





The overall tone of this performance is both devotional and understatedly dramatic: nothing is overstated or over dramatic. However, it is never pedestrian or laboured; far from it, in fact. It moves along very well. It is well balanced throughout.
All of the performers, vocal and instrumental, are particularly fine. I especially find the choral singing to be wonderful. The instrumental ensemble sounds mellow and elegant. It is a wonderfully refined live performance. One very much gets the sense here of a story being told, and well told at that.

[aligreto]

Cross post from the Listening Thread:


JSB: St. John Passion[Cleobury] 





Cleobury’s presentation certainly portrays the colour, tension and drama of the Passion. I like the light, airy texture of the choral singing; it somehow seems to bring a sense of urgency to the proceedings. It certainly does not weigh things down. The instrumentalists play very well and they are well driven by Cleobury [Roy Goodman leads the Brandenburg Consort].

[aligreto]

Cross Post from the Listening Thread:


Bach: St. John Passion [Fasolis] 





From the opening bars one detects that the tone of this presentation is a wonderful mix of the devotional and the dramatic. Neither the devotional nor the dramatic elements are exaggerated here, however. It is well balanced in that regard. The pacing, although slightly assertive, is never aggressive. It is a very fine performance from both the vocalists [both solo and choral] and the instrumentalists. I particularly like the choral singing. There are also some wonderful sounds from the various authentic instruments. The recorded sound is also very good. The presentation has a great presence to it.

[aligreto]

Bach: St. John Passion [Gardiner]





The overriding tone of Gardiner’s presentation overall is devotional. However, intertwined with that is a good dose of drama. The drama is never overdone, however. But fear not, there is plenty of wonderful drama in part II. One of Gardiner’s greatest assets has always been the Monteverdi Choir and so it is here too. They are in particularly wonderful voice in this performance. The pacing is steady throughout but never rushed yet Gardiner retains that essential accented lilt that is a requisite in the music of Bach, for me anyway. When the pace does pick up in Part II it is intense but not frantic. This is quite a refined version to my ears and I find it to be a particularly easy presentation to listen to.

[aligreto]

Bach: St. John Passion [Suzuki] from this set





The atmosphere of this presentation is, to me, very much in the story telling mode. It is neither overly devotional nor overly dramatic overall. It is rather matter-of-fact about its presentation, I find. The choral singing is excellent and the instrumental playing is also very good. The soloists all sound really clear and crisp and perhaps that is where I am picking up my perceived matter-of-fact tone. They do perform very well, however. This is not a bad thing; it is just a different interpretative approach and presentation.