Bach's St. Matthew Passion

[Opus106]

Are these recordings the same?

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[Marc]

Timings of the discs are exactly the same, so: yep.

(Don't own nor know this performance, though.)

[mc ukrneal]

Timings of the discs are exactly the same, so: yep.

(Don't own nor know this performance, though.)

You just posted ahead me - I was about to say the say thing. In addition, the booklet for the second can be found here: http://www.rondeau.de/passion/

[Marc]

You just posted ahead me - I was about to say the say thing. In addition, the booklet for the second can be found here: http://www.rondeau.de/passion/

A useful addition nevertheless.

[mc ukrneal]

A useful addition nevertheless.

Felt I had to add something! Besides, I love companies that put up the booklets, and this looks like a pretty nice one.

I can also add that the list of roles in the booklet is identical (asterisks and all) to the first version (back cover). So another reference point that they are identical.

[Marc]

Felt I had to add something! Besides, I love companies that put up the booklets, and this looks like a pretty nice one.

I can also add that the list of roles in the booklet is identical (asterisks and all) to the first version (back cover). So another reference point that they are identical.

Yeah, the 2nd one was was a re-issue for a special price (with only downloadable booklet) to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Thomanerchor.
The booklet is downloadable until October 31, btw.

[Opus106]

Thanks, gents.

[Opus106]

Despite going from Ascension Day to Whitsun, I listened to fragments of BWV 244, 2nd recording by Harnoncourt, live in Concertgebouw Amsterdam 1985.

Such a pity he withdrew this issue!



The opening choir, sung by an amateur choir (which fell apart after only a few years of existence), is much better taken than in his 3rd one, in which it is performed disappointingly shallow.

The voices of f.i. Kurt Equiluz and Arleen Augér .... such great Bach interpreters IMHO. At a certain point in Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben Augér's voice literally breaks, probably to her own embarrassment, but it brings an extra tad of emotion.
Also nice to listen to a young Jaap van Zweden (now conductor in Dallas) playing a sensitive obbligato violin part in Erbarme dich, mein Gott. Well, maybe Jadwiga Rappé isn't really a Bach mezzo (too much vibrato) and the same goes for Robert Holl, who's more a Wagner bass-bariton, and I've never really liked Anton Scharinger's voice, but still: the intensity of the entire performance is great. Sometimes even 'too great', which leads to a crazy tempo in Sehet Jesus hat die Hand, with Rappé sounding kinda like Al Jarreau.

Bach/Harnoncourt fans who are able to get it somewhere sometime somehow: grab it!

This was posted to SymphonyShare (probably at Mandryka's request) within the last two years. I have it on my local disk, but it's yet to be played.

[Marc]

Download possibility of Bach's Matthäus-Passion on the Dutch Radio 4 website: Peter Dijkstra conducting the Nederlandse Bachvereniging in Eindhoven, March 2013 (126 & 181 mb, mp3, 256 kb/s).

http://www.radio4.nl/matthausdownload

[Brahmsian]

First listen ever to Bach's St. Matthew Passion! 

Wow, what a gorgeous work.  I'm not usually into Baroque Era Vocal/Choral works, but there is definitely a great deal of beautiful music here, that it kept my attention throughout.

In particular, many of the Arias just blew me away with their incredible beauty, and none more so than the final Aria for Bass I: "Mache dich, mein Herze, rein" 

Was through this recording with Paul McCreesh leading the Gabrieli Players.
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I realize most people have heard Bach's St. Matthew's Passion, so would love to hear what some of your favourite recordings are.  I really enjoyed this one, and from reading some of the liner notes, this isn't the performance norm or most recordings.

[SonicMan46]

First listen ever to Bach's St. Matthew Passion! 

Wow, what a gorgeous work.  I'm not usually into Baroque Era Vocal/Choral works, but there is definitely a great deal of beautiful music here, that it kept my attention throughout.

I realize most people have heard Bach's St. Matthew's Passion, so would love to hear what some of your favourite recordings are.  I really enjoyed this one, and from reading some of the liner notes, this isn't the performance norm or most recordings.

Hi Ray - own a LOT of Papa Bach's choral works - have the 3 versions below of the St. Matthew Passion - Gardiner's performance is w/i the 22 disc 'cantata box' and the other box is 5 discs of two passions - and just acquired my only recording of the St. Mark Passion - not sure which one I enjoy the most (i.e. of the St. Matthew), there are so many variables when performing these choral pieces.  Dave

   

[Jo498]

I have not heard the McCreesh but he uses a minimal/solistic choir which is not the norm at all. If you want to try an all male singers, try Harnoncourt's first (1970) recording. It has some of the best boy sopranos and male altos on recordings, the evangelist, Equiluz and the bass singers are also very good.
Harnoncourt's 2000 recording is more dramatic and has some really superb soloists, other are not as good.

You might also want to try a more traditional one, like one of Richter's or the Dresden/Leipzig by Mauersberger (with Schreier as Evangelist).

[Marc]

There are so many so very different recordings of this work, it's almost impossible to make a 'solid' choice, especially because people's tastes differ so much, too.

But here's what I wrote about 6 years ago, and my taste hasn't changed all that much since then.

Herreweghe I, Leonhardt and Max are probably (I'm just not sure ) among my favourites [...]. I think Leonhardt really makes it a Lutheran service. Herreweghe and Crook c.s. tell a great story in the first recording of Ph. H. (and I can't really stand Bostridge in the second). Max is kind of a mystery to me: he's very fast, but never sounding hasty. A pity Monika Frimmer was not in her best shape, though.
I also have a weak spot for all the Harnoncourt recordings, btw.
So, in the end: .
[...]

[Jo498]

but beware/try before you buy R. Jacobs as Altus in the first Herreweghe. That's an acquired taste if there ever was one... and "Erbarme Dich" is one of my 2-3 favorite arias in the piece...

[Marc]

but beware/try before you buy R. Jacobs as Altus in the first Herreweghe. That's an acquired taste if there ever was one... and "Erbarme Dich" is one of my 2-3 favorite arias in the piece...

And .... he's also singing in Leonhardt's SMP.
Jacobs was fine in the 1970s IMO, but his voice lost its 'creaminess' after that.

Paul Esswood certainly does a better job in Harnoncourt first SMP, and, if you can't really stand countertenors in general, Bernarda Fink is sublime in his last recording.

Or ... does all this leave Ray no other option than my 'third' choice ... Hermann Max?
I must say: Lena Susanne Norin sings a beautiful "Erbarme dich" in that one.

[Marc]

First listen ever to Bach's St. Matthew Passion!

You lucky b******.

Wow, what a gorgeous work.  I'm not usually into Baroque Era Vocal/Choral works, but there is definitely a great deal of beautiful music here, that it kept my attention throughout.

In particular, many of the Arias just blew me away with their incredible beauty, and none more so than the final Aria for Bass I: "Mache dich, mein Herze, rein" 

I was about 12 or 13 years of age when I first listened to Bach's SMP, and that particular one was my favourite then, too.
I still find the middle section "Denn er soll nunmehr in mir für und für seine süße Ruhe haben..." very moving indeed.

[Brahmsian]

Thanks Dave, Jo and Marc!    I've been obsessed with the Mache dich, mein Herze, rein aria and have been listening to the McCreesh/Gabrieli Players recording with Peter Harvey bass vocal several times, along with sampling this aria in other performances on youtube.  Overall, I seem to enjoy the smaller orchestral forces with leaning towards period instruments.

I love the above mentioned performance, along with the Herreweghe/Kölner Philharmonie with Stephan MacLeod bass vocal, presented below:



Do yourself a favour and spend six minutes listening to that performance.  So gorgeous. 

[Marc]

[...] I love the above mentioned performance, along with the Herreweghe/Kölner Philharmonie with Stephan MacLeod bass vocal, presented below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoBcr-bAg2c

Do yourself a favour and spend six minutes listening to that performance.  So gorgeous. 

Funny.
That's the one I listened to last week, and thought of recommending here, and then I forgot all about it, me lazy b******.

[Brahmsian]

Funny.
That's the one I listened to last week, and thought of recommending here, and then I forgot all about it, me lazy b******.

Have you listened to the entire Herreweghe/Kölner Philharmonie performance, Marc?  I might give it a go this weekend. 

[Marc]

Have you listened to the entire Herreweghe/Kölner Philharmonie performance, Marc?  I might give it a go this weekend. 

No, I haven't.
I only listened to this particular aria.
But I can assure you that Herreweghe is always a rock solid reliable choice in Bach's vocal works. He's probably my favourite Bach conductor.

Mind you: if you really like Bach's SMP, you might want to check out his other vocal stuff, too. There are so many gems to find, f.i. in the cantatas.
The main difference is: in the cantatas there is (in most cases) no true dramatic evolving story, which places the passion's arias and choruses in a more appealing context.
But musically, the differences are really small.

A good start, IMHO, would be cantata BWV 125 Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, which has got (more or less) the same atmosphere as the SMP, with a beautiful chorale fantasy to begin with, an amazing aria for alto, flute and oboe, and a very uplifting tenor/bass duetto with the message "whoever believes in God shall be blessed."

Here's Herreweghe again (live 2012, Vredenburg, Utrecht, NL):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8UyNOCsk8Q

or

http://baroquemusings.blogspot.fr/2014/07/bach-0125-herreweghe.html