Music for Passiontide & Easter

[GioCar]

A new release I'm listening to right now



I'm not that familiar with Victoria's music, and this one is blowing me away. Highly recommended!

[Spineur]

A new release I'm listening to right now



I'm not that familiar with Victoria's music, and this one is blowing me away. Highly recommended!

If you feel like more the Ensemble Plus Ultra has a 10 cd box of his music.  They specialize in spanish baroque music. They recorded this cd From spain to eternity, a favorite here on GMG

[GioCar]

^^^ Thank you Spineur, intriguing for sure. I'll investigate.

[aligreto]

Cross posts from The Listening Thread..

During this Holy Week I decided to revisit the various different versions of the JS Bach St. John Passion. I just wanted to put them together into this thread for references purposes.


The Gardiner version:




You get exactly what you expect from Gardiner here with a highly refined performance and wonderful choral singing from the Monteverdi Choir.



The Suzuki version:





The Suzuki is really very good overall with particularly well sung both solo and choral contributions.



The Cleobury version:





A vibrant performance with good presence. This performance "sang" for me which, in any JS Bach performance, is a vital ingredient.



The Fasolis version:





This is a fine performance and recording being both well performed and sung by all concerned. The pacing is also good and I particularly like something about the tone of the interpretation; it has great presence.

[HIPster]

Nicely done, aligreto! 

Thanks for posting those together.

TD ~

A recent acquisition, one which deserves to be placed here:

[asin]B01B1TMMK4[/asin]

Beautiful vocal and instrumental performances throughout this two disc set.  Franco Pavan's notes are fascinating reading too.

This is one I will return to often. 

[Christo]

These two:

[Marc]

I did not listen much to music for passiontide and easter, but I did buy (and listen to) Jordi Savall's reconstruction of Bach's Markus-Passion BWV 247, which is probably my fav BWV 247 recording now. A bonus was that I could (more or less) immediately sing along with the Evangelist , because Savall used the Evangelist parts of BWV 244 as a base. After all, the text differences between the gospel of St. Mark and St. Matthew are rather small.

[aligreto]

I am starting my Easter week sacred music listening with a single disc vinyl of extracts from Bach's Matthaus-Passion conducted by Richter

[vandermolen]

Foerster: Symphony no.4 'Easter Eve'.

[Cato]

Les Sept Paroles du Christ by Theodore Dubois, one of my favorite works!


https://www.youtube.com/v/7K_nzI8h_qU[/flashand%20the%20second%20half:[flash=400,400]https://www.youtube.com/v/8lNi18B0LGI&t=182s

[aligreto]

Poulenc: Sept Repons des Tenebres [from the Poulenc big box].





I like this work. Upon Poulenc's insistence a child soprano is obbligato [I am not sure about the children's choir used in conjunction with an adult one] so he once said that this music "is very simple....but very moving". It is not over complex music to be sure but neither is it over simplistic and yes, it is moving. I find it to be appealingly direct and lyrical. The musical content has great diversity from the pensive to the taut and dramatic often in close juxtaposition, particularly at the beginning. I also like the scoring. It is sparse but full sounding.

[Brahmsian]

Fortunately for you, I'm not a woke. I'm an old-fashioned liberal for whom free speech is sacrosanct.

None of us are woke. We all listen to white supremacist music. 

[pjme]

Easter (Christians commemorate the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ) has inspired so many artists.

As a small child, it was fun to go looking for the hidden chocolate eggs in the garden.
However, I have also vivid memories of endless and endlessly boring church services, excruciatingly bad singing of the (catholic) priests and amateur choirs.
Worse: sitting (on a wooden chair!) through complete Matheus Passionen in freezing churches....
Then suddenly (around 1968) Penderecki's Lucas Passion was performed in Brussels and Amsterdam. It was even broadcast (probably from Poland)  on national TV. It had a huge impact on me, similar to hearing Britten's War Requiem for the first time. The formidable voices of soprano Stefania Woytowicz and bass Bernard Ladysz can be heard on this recording



At the other side of the expressive spectrum, there are Charpentier's superb Leçons de ténèbres du Vendredi saint and the heart wrenching saetas of the Semana santa in Spain
https://youtu.be/Z3eW5F60i04

And a real favorite : Honegger's (all too short) Cantique de Pâques - only surviving fragment of a large scale choral work, Mystère de Pâques (1922).
https://youtu.be/CQkljyO13kw
And, almost forgotten: RVW's Easter from the 5 mystical songs.
Federico Mompou's late choral "Improperios" (orchestrated with the help of Markevitch).

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Easter (Christians commemorate the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ) has inspired so many artists.

As a small child, it was fun to go looking for the hidden chocolate eggs in the garden.
However, I have also vivid memories of endless and endlessly boring church services, excruciatingly bad singing of the (catholic) priests and amateur choirs.
Worse: sitting (on a wooden chair!) through complete Matheus Passionen in freezing churches....
Then suddenly (around 1968) Penderecki's Lucas Passion was performed in Brussels and Amsterdam. It was even broadcast (probably from Poland)  on national TV. It had a huge impact on me, similar to hearing Britten's War Requiem for the first time. The formidable voices of soprano Stefania Woytowicz and bass Bernard Ladysz can be heard on this recording



At the other side of the expressive spectrum, there are Charpentier's superb Leçons de ténèbres du Vendredi saint and the heart wrenching saetas of the Semana santa in Spain
https://youtu.be/Z3eW5F60i04

And a real favorite : Honegger's (all too short) Cantique de Pâques - only surviving fragment of a large scale choral work, Mystère de Pâques (1922).
https://youtu.be/CQkljyO13kw
And, almost forgotten: RVW's Easter from the 5 mystical songs.
Federico Mompou's late choral "Improperios" (orchestrated with the help of Markevitch).

Hello.

I found some recordings of that on youtube....trying to find one of the concert (and/or recording???).  Could you provide a link if it exists?  I'd love to hear it.  If not, I'll pick another.

PD

[pjme]

Ehhh...which work do you mean exactly?

[aligreto]

I don't like Easter (too much religious nonsense for my taste - it feels like "mental bee sting."  ).

I rather wait the week is over.

The absolute curse of the internet; the individual contrarian will have his/her say.
Not everything in Life is logical.
In the context of this thread what is the need for such a statement here?

[prémont]

The absolute curse of the internet; the individual contrarian will have his/her say.
Not everything in Life is logical.
In the context of this thread what is the need for such a statement here?

Can't but agree.

TD:
To day I have listened to a new aquisition (Richard Egarr's recording of the SMP by Bach). Unfortunately it is a dud, so to morrow I shall listen to another recording - think it will be either Herreweghe I, Harnoncourt I or Kuijken.

[71 dB]

I deleted my messages. I try again:

J. S. Bach - Johannes Passion - Ricercar Consort - Philippe Pierlot - MIRARE

¡Feliz Jueves y Viernes Santo!

[aligreto]

I deleted my messages. 

Good for you. I admire your retraction in the spirit and context of the thread. That was big of you.

J. S. Bach - Johannes Passion - Ricercar Consort - Philippe Pierlot - MIRARE

¡Feliz Jueves y Viernes Santo!

I have not heard that particular recording but, based on another recording of JSB by the same forces, I can anticipate the quality.

[aligreto]

De Lalande Lecons De Ténebres [Desrochers]





I have posted the respective Lecon from this CD on each of Mercredy, Jeudy and now today, Vendredy, simply to draw attention to it for those who may not be aware of it. It is a presentation of the highest quality and comes with the requisite unhesitating recommendation.

This is a most poised, refined and elegant performance from all concerned, particularly from the soprano Desrochers who ultimately carries the presentation with a sublime vocal performance. The accompaniment is also very fine and sensitive and definitely contributes to the overall sense of occasion. Each Leçon is preceded by a tombeau by a different composer. The playing is wonderful and the recording is excellent; there is great bite in the lower register strings of the viola da gamba and the tone of the continuo in total is wonderfully recorded.

I have long held the opinion that De Lalande's Leçons de Tenebres are the most beautiful and exquisite that I have heard. Desrochers' voice certainly enhances the already wonderful music; her singing is quite haunting and is very sensitively accompanied.