Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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.

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.

The potential listeners should not be discouraged by some of the reviews posted here. After all, this recording won Gramophone Award in 2001 for best vocal baroque recording. And to quote from the "Gramophone" review: "This is another major recording [...]shining like a beacon in a fairly uniform era of recorded vocal Bach. [...]In short, this is the most culturally alert reading in years. A truly original and illuminating experience [...]"

The "enhanced CD" part of this recording ironically underscores the problem with the performance. Look at the score, by all means! There, in red ink, is Bach's gripping engagement with this story of stories: this is not only music, it is a total intellectual, emotional and spiritual response to the meaning of the text that is set. To mis-interpret the obvious musical gestures that Bach uses to reinforce that meaning does both him and the listener a profound disservice. No one wants Mengelberg back - but can we at least go with what's on the page?

For example: when Bach sets the legato, tortuous threnody of "So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen" into motion, then shatters it with "Lasst ihn, haltet, bindet nicht!" how can the choir sound so languid and unconnected? Nor do the crowd's brutal shouts of "Barrabam" and "Lass ihn kreuzigen" have any real conviction. Again and again, the choir seems to be "just singing" - and their lack of connection with Bach's obvious dramatic intentions leaves the work half performed.

All of this is by way of contrast to the magnificent and convicted solo singing, especially that of Matthias Goerne, whose Jesus rings with vivid, masculine life. Simon Heighes' review hits the high (and lesser) points on the other soloists as well - many of these arias are extraordinarily well sung.

... However, it is in the area of tempo that I find Harnoncourt really adrift. The tempos are absurdly fast in places where the music cries for breath and breadth. This reaches unfortunate levels at the cross itself, with the sublime alto aria, "Sehet Jesus hat die Hand," moving so quickly that neither oboes nor choir can possibly sound their parts adequately. And the tempo of the fabulous bass aria, "Mache dich mein Herze rein" turns it into a jolly, oversung ditty - totally missing the mixture of resignation, joy and bitter pain conveyed by the major key, compound meter and rich scoring.

All these criticisms come together at what ought to the emotional climax of the piece, the penultimate "Nun ist der Herr zur Ruh gebracht", in which each soloist offers Jesus their personal farewell. The solos are fabulous - tender and resolute - but the choir flips it off: "Yeah, yeah, good night already." I don't know what Harnoncourt was thinking, but it's quite clear that Bach had something much more profound in mind.

All this begs the old question: to what extent can strictly historical understandings of performance practice dictate interpretation? The answer all to often these days is "totally" - and Bach's masterpiece suffers for it. Three stars for the soloists (especially Goerne) and the enhanced CD, but look elsewhere for the depths this work demands.

With the music of Bach, Harnoncourt is the conductor people will either love or hate. He was the first to record the complete Bach cantatas and, love him or hate him, his renditions are always different. I have not always been a fan of his work with Bach. I will love some of his recordings, and be compeltely repulsed by others. I find his renditions to be a bit "wooden," archaic, percussive, lacking in the elegance and "suave-ness" one gets from conductors like Ton Koopan, or Harnoncourt's own protogee Philippe Herreweghe.

Harnoncourt's recorded the St. Matthew Passion twice before. But I must say, this record, with all its idiosyncracies, is a pleasure to listen to. It is unpolished and imperfect, and indeed the forces seem unbalanced at times, but I think this is what adds to this recording's allure. The imperfections (not due to "mistakes" but due to some odd technique of the playing and odd artistic choices of Harnoncourt) are not jarring, but immensely interesting.

I wouldn't go as far as to say this is the best record. This record may have won many awards including a Grammy, but in my opinion, the award for the gold-standard of St. Matthew Passions goes to Philippe Herreweghe and his second recording of the Passion for Harmonia Mundi. I'm impressed with Harnoncourt's soloists. Pregardien is gripping as the Evangelist, although not as lithe as Ian Bostridge. I am thrilled at the presence of Dorothea Roeschmann on this recording, as she never fails to impress me. There is not one weak link in Harnoncourt's cast.

The orchestra and the choirs do not always balance evenly, and I feel Harnoncourt has misjudged how dramatic Bach's score could be. The interjections especially in the opening chorus and in the soprano/alto duet at the end of part one are simply not strong enough. Some of the turbae choruses are seriously lacking in conviction and power. There are some odd sforzati in "O Mensch, bewein dein Suende gross" as well as a few other odd licences taken by Harnoncourt and not indicated by Bach in the original score. For this, I would give the record 4.5 stars if I could. But on the whole, with all Harnoncourt's quirks, it is like listening to the St. Matthew Passion for the first time- a totally different listening experience from what we are used to. This is a recording you can't help but listen to all the way through.

The sound quality is excellent. Although it may be too good at times (traffic noises can be heard at certain points, but it's very minor). However, the true ambience of the church in which it was recorded is captured in its full majesty.

I have lived with this recording for nearly ten years (it was a Christmas present in 2001, I notice) and, after many attempts to like and enjoy it, I have decided to put my cards on the table, if only because I can't believe that I am the only person who finds this performance problematic. I have long admired Harnoncourt's first ('quirky') recording of the great Bach masterpiece since it first came out some forty years ago, and, like all lovers of Bach, I have my favourites which include both old devotional performances (Klemperer and Richter first) and more recent period performances (Gardiner and the very inexpensive and extremely beautiful one by Stephen Cleobury). I simply do not understand all the accolades that have been heaped on this recording. The magnificent evangelist of Christoph Pregardien remain in a class of his own among contemporary tenors attempting this part, but I find so much of the rest contrived and hard pressed. Starting with the breathless violin in the great alto aria 'Erbarme dich'(tr. 'Have mercy on me') which turns this incredible piece into an anxiety-provoking struggle to the tenor's marvellous 'Geduld' (tr. "Patience") which becomes a dreadful cavalcade, I found this recording rather devoid of spiritual quality; I am not a religious man, but expect Bach great religious works to communicate the grandeur, mystery (as well as the horror) of the sufferings of Christ - what I find here is the horror (frequently expressed in ugly singing - try the denunciations of the two witnesses which are truly grotesque) that overshadows everything else. I am not impressed by the solo singing either - the alto's low notes are tentative to put it mildly, the bass arias sound to me consistently off pitch. I have no doubt that Harnoncourt is a great musician - but after listening to this version earlier today, I have decided that I will not be listening to it again. As I am writing these lines, I am listening to the stunning singing of counter-tenor Michael Chance on the rival Cleobury recording - what a relief and what a pleasure!

It was Solti with Chicago Orchestra that provided me with the first exposure to what I condsider the greatest composition of all time, St. Matthews' Passion by Bach. 3 years and 9 renditions of the masterpice later I count this one by Harnoncourt as one of my 4 favourites. The remaining ones are those by Gardiner, Herreweghe and Solti.

Possibly interesting to the specialist, particularly in the treatment of dischord, but this is not a sincere rendition of the Matthew Passion. As mentioned by previous reviewers, tempos are too fast. What does it mean that to consider the initial chorus "Kommt, ihr Toechter, helft mir klagen" (come ye daughters, share my mourning) as a jig? Not what Bach meant! And this is an "authentic" performance! If you are looking for a "period" performance, I would advise Gardiner's, although I am sure there are others which also maintain due respect for the theme of the passion.