Bach Johannes-Passion / St. John Passion

Started by Bogey, August 01, 2009, 06:08:26 AM

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Marc

#80
Quote from: Bogey on August 03, 2009, 09:55:06 AM
Went with the Kuijken....thanks for the suggestions and the great background info, folks.

Good man! :)

Just curious: did you choose the combination Kuijken SJP/Leonhardt SMP?
(Because that really IS a steal.)

EDIT: Just checked the purchase thread -> no answer needed. ;)

Marc

Quote from: jlaurson on August 03, 2009, 07:40:03 AM
I'm very, very fond of Herreweghe's St.John.

If only the pauses between tracks weren't that long (1725 recording). It takes away a lot of the drama, IMHO.
But on the whole, I would say Bach & Herreweghe: a merry marriage! :)

Bogey

Quote from: Marc on August 03, 2009, 10:27:48 AM
Good man! :)

Just curious: did you choose the combination Kuijken SJP/Leonhardt SMP?
(Because that really IS a steal.)

Yes.  It is a 5 disc set and the SMP is the first three.
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Marc

Quote from: Bogey on August 03, 2009, 01:13:53 PM
Yes.  It is a 5 disc set and the SMP is the first three.

What are your first listening experiences?
Happy with the purchase?

Que

Quote from: jlaurson on August 07, 2009, 11:26:03 AM
I can't seem to be finding that set. Have you by chance a link?



Click picture.

Q

Papageno

I'm looking for a Klemperer-esque recording of Bach's St. John Passion.  I'm not even sure if Klemperer has recorded it.
I should note that I don't like the Karl Richter recording that much.

Good to be back...

Marc

#86
Quote from: Papageno on December 26, 2009, 06:50:31 AM
I'm looking for a Klemperer-esque recording of Bach's St. John Passion.  I'm not even sure if Klemperer has recorded it.
I should note that I don't like the Karl Richter recording that much.

Good to be back...
Hello, Papageno!
I'm probably your worst adviser if non-HIP is concerned, and I dunno 'bout the performance myself .... nevertheless I give you this one (with some hesitation ;)), conducted by Eugen Jochum:



http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000069CU

Coopmv

Quote from: Marc on December 26, 2009, 01:00:03 PM
Hello, Papageno!
I'm probably your worst adviser if non-HIP is concerned, and I dunno 'bout the performance myself .... nevertheless I give you this one (with some hesitation ;)), conducted by Eugen Jochum:



http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000069CU

This is a decent non-HIP recording and I have had a set for a while ...

zmic

One non-HIP that I like very much is the 1970 recording by Wolfgang Gönnenwein on EMI.

As for HIP, I prefer Harnoncourt II and Herreweghe I.

Marc

Found this live recording by Herreweghe (27-03-2007, Gent, Belgium); broadcasted by RTBF Belgium, March 20th 2008; downloadable at Rapidshare .... mp3 sound is lean, definitely not impressive ('lisping'), especially in the chorus parts. But, suppose you're able to download it this way, why not give it a listen? I just listened to the first part, and .... it's Bach, it's Herreweghe, it's good. :)

http://rapidshare.com/files/344603839/BWV245_07-03-27_pt_1.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/344612428/BWV245_07-03-27_pt_2.zip

knight66

Another non-hip recording that is well worth investigating is Karl Forster with the Berlin Sym Orch on EMI from 1962. It is direct and dramatic. The singers include Fischer-Dieskau, Grummer and Wunderlich. The choir is large, but alert in terms of what we expect today, but not enormous or lumbering. It is a very satisfying reading.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.

zmic

Quote from: Papageno on December 26, 2009, 06:50:31 AM
I'm looking for a Klemperer-esque recording of Bach's St. John Passion.  I'm not even sure if Klemperer has recorded it.
I should note that I don't like the Karl Richter recording that much.

Good to be back...

My guess is that the Karl Forster recording would be the most Klemperer-esque.

Marc

#92
Listening to a new recording, and even some kind of a 'new' version: 1725 mainly, but with the standard Herr, unser Herrscher as opening choir, plus the larger continuo prescriptions of the 1749 version.



La Chapelle Rhénane, conducted by Benoît Haller.

http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0036V4DMG

Mixed opinions so far, after only one listening session: like the Fasolis recording, the opening choir has got percussion-like bass rhythmics, yet slightly milder. 2 voices per part in the chorus singing, by the soloists. One of the sopranos a bit fluttering, which makes blending of the voices not ideal.
Very good performance by evangelist Julian Prégardien, indeed, the son of Christoph! Also Benoît Arnould (Jesus) offers a very satisfying performance.
In general: a good performance, but not very special, with a tendency to one-sided (heavy) expression with little variety. Of course, this opinion could be changed after some more listening sessions. I mainly wanted to point out a new recording.

Marc

A new recording, with the Ricercar Consort and Philippe Pierlot, and it's one of the the best I've heard in years. An intimate yet very expressive performance, with very good instrumentalists and some outstanding voices, especially countertenor Carlos Mena.

This one might jump into my personal Top 3 [:P], to join Gardiner I and Kuijken.

Recommended!



http://www.amazon.co.uk/J-S-Bach-Passion-Ricercar-Consort/dp/B004LYIDQY

Marc

For those who live nereby Stockholm:

Sunday April 10th
15:00 hours
Berwaldhallen, Stockholm
Bach: Johannes-Passion BWV 245
Sveriges Radiokören
Drottningholms Barockensemble
Evangelist: Maximilian Schmitt
Soloists from Sveriges Radiokören
Conductor: Peter Dijkstra

(For Dijkstra's SMP; check out this message:
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,4877.msg500010.html#msg500010)

Antoine Marchand

Quote from: Marc on March 18, 2011, 02:59:59 PM
A new recording, with the Ricercar Consort and Philippe Pierlot, and it's one of the the best I've heard in years. An intimate yet very expressive performance, with very good instrumentalists and some outstanding voices, especially countertenor Carlos Mena.

This one might jump into my personal Top 3 [:P], to join Gardiner I and Kuijken.

Recommended!



http://www.amazon.co.uk/J-S-Bach-Passion-Ricercar-Consort/dp/B004LYIDQY

Thanks for the head-ups!

Some weeks ago, I wrote about the new versions of the Johannes-Passion:

Quote from: Antoine Marchand on February 26, 2011, 07:57:52 AM
I will probably purchase all those three versions in the future, but at the moment I desesperately need just one of them.  :)   

I was thinking in Pierlot, IMO one of the very best Baroque directors of the last two decades and, for some strange reason, still rather unknown. I simply collect every recording by the Ricercar Consort.

Antoine Marchand

Quote from: Marc on March 18, 2011, 02:59:59 PM
A new recording, with the Ricercar Consort and Philippe Pierlot, and it's one of the the best I've heard in years. An intimate yet very expressive performance, with very good instrumentalists and some outstanding voices, especially countertenor Carlos Mena.

This one might jump into my personal Top 3 [:P], to join Gardiner I and Kuijken.

Recommended!



http://www.amazon.co.uk/J-S-Bach-Passion-Ricercar-Consort/dp/B004LYIDQY

I have finished up the second listening of the new Johannes-Passion directed by Philippe Pierlot, but unfortunately I don't share your enthusiasm, Marc.

During several years I have paid close attention to the recordings of the Ricercar Consort, almost invariably with great pleasure and enduring trust in their skills. But this is the second time that a recording by them has been a major disappointment to me, being the other one their also recent Magnificat.

IMO the principles of OVPP don't simply work out here from the very initial chorus which results deprived of any exhortative power. I could never forgive that I was listening to a OVPP version because every voice is separately listened to everywhere (maybe at some extent a fault of the recording because the sound is taken very closely). Hans-Jörg Mammel is an Evangelist which is totally lack of warmth or ability to express the deepest feelings involved in the story. There is intimacy, but never devotional sense. Maybe I am a bit biased because during the last months I have been listening to several great versions of this master work: Herreweghe II, Veldhoven, Max, Koopman and, two weeks ago, a beautiful version (1725) directed by Nico van der Meel (Quintone), all of them IMO superior to Pierlot and his gang... Sorry, Philippe, but it's my humble and totally amateur opinion.  :'(   

Anyway, the instrumental parts played by the Ricercar Consort sound excellent, as usual.
   

Marc

Don't feel bad about disagreements, dear Ton. :)
Most of the recordings you mentioned are all top notch in my view, too.

Still: I might prefer Herreweghe I to II.
And I have mixed feelings towards Van Veldhoven, mainly due to some uneven tempi choices.
And I found the Van der Meel too superficial, especially due to the rather lacklustre choir singing.

I have to listen to the Pierlot again sometime. Before Good Friday I listened to it twice, with great pleasure .... but now Christ is arisen and almost up in Heaven, so I'm more into BWV 4 and 43. ;)

Antoine Marchand

Quote from: Marc on May 29, 2011, 01:42:25 PM
And I found the Van der Meel too superficial, especially due to the rather lacklustre choir singing.

Probably I will again listen to this version the next weekend. I loved the "pietist", anti-operatic approach and the Evangelist by Nico van der Meel, but it was probably Holly Friday too.  :)

Anyway, what a wonderful soprano is Maria Keohane! And, I agree with you, Mena is singing better every day.

Marc

Quote from: Antoine Marchand on May 29, 2011, 01:52:02 PM
Probably I will again listen to this version the next weekend. I loved the "pietist", anti-operatic approach and the Evangelist by Nico van der Meel, but it was probably Holly Friday too. :)

Holly Friday?

http://www.facebook.com/people/Holly-Friday/184805707

Tell me more .... ;D