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4.0 out of 5 stars
A dark horse in the St. John Passion race, December 25, 2007
This review is from: Bach: St. John Passion (Audio CD)
A live St. John Passion performed by Swiss Italians from Lugano? Yes, indeed. Such is the internaitonal reach of the period perfrormance movement that an out-of-the-way reading can be totally convincing. You might not believe your ears at the beginning, where the bass line and harpsichord continuo are five times larger than life, but conductor Fasolis knows how to conduct Bach. This Passion is more lyrical and joyous than tragic. Fasolis favors one beat to the bar, which is fast by any standard, but his phrasing is so fluid and flowing that it never feels rushed. The vocal soloists are middle of the road, and one wishes for more fervor form the very light-voiced Nico van Meer, yet the overall effect is convincingly dramatic and musical. A thoroughly enjoyable experience. The recorded sound, by the way, is exceptionally clear and natural, in sharp contrast to the nasty sonics on Gardiner's DG account.
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