Bach - Matthäus-Passion / Prégardien, Goerne, C. Schäfer, Röschmann, Fink, von Magnus, Schade, M. Schäfer, Henschel, Widmer, Harnoncourt [with Enhanced CD-ROM] [Box set, Enhanced]

Johann Sebastian Bach (Artist), Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Artist), Christine Schäfer (Artist), Bernarda Fink (Artist), Arnold Schoenberg Choir (Artist), Concentus Musicus Wien (Artist), Matthias Goerne (Artist), Dorothea Röschmann (Artist), Christoph Prégardien (Artist), Oliver Widmer (Artist), Dietrich Henschel (Artist), Michael Schade (Artist), Marcus Schäfer (Artist), Elisabeth von Magnus (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 20, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set, Enhanced
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Teldec
• ASIN: B000050KFT
• Also Available in: DVD Audio
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #291,829 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Prima Parte: Chor: Kommt, Ihr Tochter, Helft Mir Klagen - Wiener Sangerknaben/Norbert Balatsch/Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner

2. Prima Parte: Evangelista: Da Jesus Diese Rede Vollendet Hatte - Christoph Pregardien

3. Prima Parte: Chor: Herzliebster Jesu, Was Du Verbrochen - Wiener Sangerknaben/Norbert Balatsch/Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner

4. Prima Parte: Evangelista: Da Versammleten Sich Die Hohenpriester/Chor: Ja Nicht Auf Das Fest... - Christoph Pregardien/Wiener Sangerknaben/Norbert Balatsch/Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner

5. Prima Parte: Recitativo: Du Lieber Heiland Du - Bernarda Fink

6. Prima Parte: Aria: Buss Und Reu - Bernarda Fink

See all 29 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Seconda Parte: Aria: Ach! Nun Ist Mein Jesus Hin! - Bernarda Fink/Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner

2. Seconda Parte: Evangelista: Die Aber Jesum Gegriffen Hatten - Christoph Pregardien

3. Seconda Parte: Chor: Mir Hat Die Welt Truglich Gericht't - Wiener Sangerknaben/Norbert Balatsch/Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner

4. Seconda Parte: Evangelista: Und Wiewohl Viel Falsche Zeugen - Christoph Pregardien

5. Seconda Parte: Recitativo: Mein Jesus Schweigt Zu Falschen Lugen Stille - Markus Schafer

6. Seconda Parte: Aria: Geduld! - Markus Schafer

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Seconda Parte: Evangelista: Und Da Sie An Die Statte Kamen/Chor: Der Du Den Tempel Gottes... - Christoph Pregardien/Wiener Sangerknaben/Norbert Balatsch/Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner

2. Seconda Parte: Recitativo: Ach, Golgatha - Bernarda Fink

3. Seconda Parte: Aria: Sehet, Jesus Hat Die Hand (Chor: Wohin?) - Bernarda Fink/Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner

4. Seconda Parte: Evangelista: Und Von Der Sechsten Stunde An/Chor: Der Rufet Dem Elias/Evangelista... - Christoph Pregardien/Wiener Sangerknaben/Norbert Balatsch/Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner

5. Seconda Parte: Chor: Wenn Ich Einmal Soll Scheiden - Wiener Sangerknaben/Norbert Balatsch/Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner

6. Seconda Parte: Evangelista: Und Siehe Da, Der Vorhang Im Tempel/Chor: Wahrlich, Dieser Ist Gottes... - Christoph Pregardien/Wiener Sangerknaben/Norbert Balatsch/Arnold Schoenberg Chor/Erwin Ortner

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

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So much for the seven-year itch. Every 15 years or so Nikolaus Harnoncourt likes to record a new St Matthew Passion – with the full blessing of his record company (Teldec). His pioneering period performance with Vienna Concentus Musicus and the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, seized the musical world by the scruff of the neck in 1970; a live relay of a concert with the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam was issued in 1986 to raise money for the restoration of their famous hall; and now we have a brand new version with a repopulated Concentus Musicus, the mighty Arnold Schoenberg Choir and an impressive solo cast of established and rising stars. This new recording was made with much love and care over a 12-day period last year in the sumptuous acoustic of the Jesuit Church on Vienna's Ignaz-Seipel-Plaz. With the exception of a few distant traffic noises (annoying for those of us with sub-woofers) the church's genius loci has been gloriously captured, and this distinctive atmosphere adds much to the listening pleasure. But what increased my pleasure most was the technological miracle which allows those listeners with computers to follow the music in perfect sync with a complete facsimile of Bach's beautiful autograph score. (All you need is a disc drive and at least 500 MHz of processor power.) There's even the facility for printing out any page you like, albeit at fairly low resolution. Just one grumble about the production: some idiot editor has inserted pauses between each track on the final disc, regularly and pointlessly interrupting the flow of the music just as the drama reaches its climax. But what about the performance itself? I must admit that when compared with Harnoncourt's perceptive Bach recordings of the 1960s (particularly the Brandenburg Concertos, the Mass in B minor and the St Matthew Passion), many of his more recent forays into the studios have proved less consistently satisfying. The 1986 Amsterdam recording of the Passion was certainly something of a disappointment, with an unequal solo team and a lack of clarity and precision in both the choral singing and playing. This new recording, though, is in a different class entirely, and should, I think, be enjoyed alongside Harnoncourt's first recording, though it will never entirely replace it. The tone of this new St Matthew may be more satisfyingly extrovert, even theatrical, but the honest liturgical conviction of King's Choir and the measured responses of the 1970s soloists remain extremely persuasive. In the soprano arias few conductors ever managed to elicit such mature singing from boy soloists as Harnoncourt did with the cream of the Vienna Boys' Choir. His grown-up soloists 30 years later offer very different musical insights. Dorothea Röschmann digs deep into her soul for one of the most passionate and urgent renditions on record of ‘Blute nur' (Ann Monoyios, for Gardiner, sounds disappointingly pallid in comparison). I also particularly enjoyed the contributions of the full-bodied but perfectly focused contralto Bernarda Fink (magnificent in ‘Erbarme dich'); bass Dietrich Henschel is also a joy, and endearingly Fischer-Dieskau-like in ‘Komm, süsses Kreuz'. Wobbly baritone Oliver Widmer and over-enthusiastic tenor Michael Schade I can live without. Christoph Prégardien is an experienced Evangelist and is perhaps a shade more lyrical than the more urgently declamatory English Evangelists (Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Ian Bostridge) employed by Gardiner and Herreweghe respectively. But Harnoncourt's choice for Jesus – Matthias Goerne – is far and away the most convincing of recent times. On the minus side, the instrumental playing here is not always of the same standard as the singing, and is seldom quite as polished in the accompanied recitatives, ariosos and arias as we get from Gardiner's and Herreweghe's teams. (The rickety solo oboe in ‘Ich will bei meinem Jesu wachen' sounds like a throwback to the early days of period performance.) In choral terms, too, the large but well-trained Arnold Schoenberg Choir often fail to capture the mood in quite the same way as the Monteverdi Choir. This is in part the result of their slightly recessed recording perspective, but it's also a matter of interpretation: ‘Wo willst du' is hardly quizzical, ‘Lass ihn kreuzigen' too well mannered, and ‘Wahrlich, dieser ist Gottes Sohn gewesen' is just too ordinary. But the great opening sarabande ‘Kommt, ihr Töchter' is a triumph of optimism: infused with the spirit of the dance, it portrays hope and suffering as two sides of the same coin. After 30 years Harnoncourt clearly still has much to say about Bach's masterpiece. This is a recording I'll want to return to often, though probably not as frequently as I will to Gardiner's. Simon Heighes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a wonderful edition, May 30, 2001

By 

Tina Morris "schultheiss" (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bach - Matthäus-Passion / Prégardien, Goerne, C. Schäfer, Röschmann, Fink, von Magnus, Schade, M. Schäfer, Henschel, Widmer, Harnoncourt [with Enhanced CD-ROM] (Audio CD)

This recording of Bach's great St. Matthew Passion is excellent in many ways. Nikolaus Harnoncourt delivers yet another brilliant as-authentic-as-it-gets Bach rendition with the orchestra that he feels the most comfortable with, the Concentus Musicus. The Arnold Schoenberg choir is another favorite of his, and it shows in this recording. Orchestra, soloists and choir become one great musical unit, with each of them shining in their own way. Teldec has done some phantastic things since the dawning of Quicktime and enhanced CD technology, and this edition is no exception: CD #3 is an anhanced CD that you can play on your computer, and it will show you the historic full autograph score of the piece page by page as the music goes along. Fantastic! The whole album is crafted like a little book, with the CD sleeves integrated, a style that Teldec is now also using for their opera recordings, and it is indeed very convenient to have libretto/liner-notes and CD storage in this compact book format. The liner notes are very informative and extremely tastefully illustrated. A great piece alltogether! For fans of comparative listening excercises in classical music I also recommend the recording of the St.Matthew passion by Philip Herrewhege

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completly satisfied with this, July 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Bach - Matthäus-Passion / Prégardien, Goerne, C. Schäfer, Röschmann, Fink, von Magnus, Schade, M. Schäfer, Henschel, Widmer, Harnoncourt [with Enhanced CD-ROM] (Audio CD)

This one is a highly prised version (Grammy winner and classical magazine Grammophone winner as best baroque vocal for year 2001 records and also worth mention is that this disc is the most recommended version -EVER in that magazine) and it is easy too understand why when you listen to this fantastic disc.

Now we go to what I think of it...

A cast that has a better "line up" than this is hard to find because they are all among the best, especially from Germany/Austria as those people mostly come from, are high class singers -ALL of them.

Prégardien, Goerne, Christine Schäfer (very good on THIS one), Fink and Schade is at their best on this disc/version.

Music is SOMETIMES fast but I like it that way and it is NOT so "rushed" as some rewievers complains about in MY opinion...

It is def NOT fast/rushed at all more in that way than it depends on if you like slow interprets or to have it a bit quicker. This is def. NOT "rushed" but I can asure you that those times it is "rushed" it is good for the drama (yes it is also "slow" SOMETIMES as a drama effect)

I think Amazons review is QUITE good BUT about that so called some "sloppy engeering" at the last disc I MIGHT MAYBY hear that a LITTLE one or two times on the last disc but it is not anything worth complaining about -in my opinion- so I dont know if there is something wrong with that specific record the reviwer (and some others) own but mine is alright in that way and it is no interups att all worth mention.

I have not listen to St Matthews Passion for so long, I mean to call me an "expert" but as a relatively newcomber to this piece I am highly satisfied with this version and both chorus (Wiener Sängerknaben and Arnold Schoenberg choir) is great, absolutly fantastic on this -as the rest of the leading singers as I mentioned before.

Concentus musicus Wien play this LIVELY (not "rushed")and is not "sloppy" att all... they DARE and has the guts to feel the music, live in it.

Harnoncourt has done an excellent work and he understands this piece well I presume because it IS really something extra and he had recorded it three or four times before.

The sound is ABSOLUTLY STUNNING, great captured from a church so it was a good team working with soundengineering and a good idea too replace it where it belongs -to a church. Sound "breaths" and are crystal clear and warm.

Bonus is a beutiful book with paintings of Jesus, text to follow, insight of the story and the last disc is ALSO at your use as a CD-rom showing Bach:s notes.

At last... I am sick and tired about negative people about "definitive" versions and so on.. it is NO "definitive" version and I could asure that Harnoncourt CAN read notes. This is a drama MEANT to put "live", personal feeling in and in that way this is great.

Also good is Herreweghes, Suzukis and Gardiners versions but this is for ME the ABSOLUTLY BEST and you could def. NOT go wrong with this disc (and not with those mentioned either.. but I like this more than the others).

Enjoy.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harnoncourt gives the Matthaus Passion back to the church..., August 14, 2001

By 

H. W. A. Leeuwen "Hein Storm van Leeuwen" (Voorschoten, Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bach - Matthäus-Passion / Prégardien, Goerne, C. Schäfer, Röschmann, Fink, von Magnus, Schade, M. Schäfer, Henschel, Widmer, Harnoncourt [with Enhanced CD-ROM] (Audio CD)

The present recording seems to focus from beginning to end on the suffering of christ and the great sacrifice he made for mankinf when he died on the cross. Eventhough I am not a religious person, the power of this performance is self-evident. At many points the listener is forced to consider these things, and as a result one is left completely bare before oneself. I fail to understand how Harnoncourt is able tp do this. There are the usual pinters, of course, the excellent orchestra, the great choir and the refinement of their part. There is the unusual cast, with an evangelist that for once does not have a light and recitating voice, but borders on an baritone kind of timbre, the acoustics of the church where the recording was made, and so on. I submit though that most of all it is the intensity of Harnoncourts vision on music and what it should do, what it should invoke in an audience and how to achieve this that makes the difference here. The images of the cross are burned upon the mind as the story unfolds to the ultimate high of Christ`s sacrifice. It left me completely broken down at many points and wholly stunned at the end. I litterally could now move for several minutes at the end. Do not buy this set if you like easy listening or if you do not want to be confronted.