Bach: St. Matthew Passion [Box set, Original recording remastered]

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Performer), Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Otto Klemperer (Conductor), George Malcolm (Performer), Viola Tunnard (Performer), Philharmonia Orchestra of London (Orchestra), Ralph Downes (Performer), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Performer), Nicolai Gedda (Performer), Geraint Evans (Performer), Helen Watts (Performer), John Carol Case (Performer), Otakar Kraus (Performer), Peter Pears (Performer), Walter Berry (Performer), Wilfred Brown (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, George Malcolm, Viola Tunnard, Ralph Downes, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, et al.
• Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra of London
• Conductor: Otto Klemperer
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
• Audio CD (April 10, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
• 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: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00005AVMG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,814 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 1.: 'Kommt, ihr Töchter

2. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 1.: 'Da Jesus diese Red

3. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 1.: 'Herzliebster Jesus

4. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 1.: 'Da versammelten si

5. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 1.: 'Ja nicht auf dem F

6. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 1.: 'Da nun Jesus'

See all 31 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 1.: 'Und er kam'

2. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 1.: 'So ist mein Jesus

3. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 1.: 'Und siehe, einer a

4. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 1.: 'O Mensch, bewein'

5. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 2.: 'Ach, nun ist mein

6. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 2.: 'Die aber Jesum geg

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 2.: 'Sie schrieen aber

2. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 2.: 'Erbarm' es Gott!'

3. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 2.: 'Können Tränen mein

4. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 2.: 'Da nahmen die Krie

5. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 2.: 'O Haupt voll Blut

6. St. Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion), for soloists, double chorus & double orchestra, BWV 244 (BC D3b): Part 2.: 'Und da sie ihn ver

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sublime Acquired Taste, January 21, 2005

By 

Jonathan Beyrak Lev (Tel Aviv, Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bach: St. Matthew Passion (Audio CD)

There's nothing at all humble me can say to the connoisseur about this composition that's not a repetition of a repetition. To the newcomer, though, some words of advice:

This is rightly considered one of, if not the best, of Bach's works. To the total newbie, Bach is rightly considered not one, but the best, of western composers. If you read my review you'll probably see why it's not a good idea to start your inquiry into Bach with this particular performance. In fact, I would recommend you start with another work, the St. John Passion, which is what I started with (if you want my advice, take the Koopman version, but I believe I'm in a minority here).

Concerning this performance:

There's a silly argument going on in the musicological world regarding the "proper" way to perform Bach's music, of which the St. Matthew Passion is a popular object.

I was fortunate to have as a teacher of Harmony and Counterpoint one Erez Rapaport, who has greatly impressed me with his hate of theory and his uncompromising demand that every decision, in composition as well as performance, be made based on what sounds best.

Arguing about what is the "real" Bach is pointless since the man is long dead. Any criticism on a performance of his work must therefore be based not on whether it conforms to some doctrine or another, but solely on how it sounds.

And this one sounds wonderful. Of course, it does take some getting used to, partly because of the slowness, the loudness and the sheer size of the performing forces, but mostly because it just takes a fair amount of time and attention to fully appreciate such an edifice of perfection. Every movement, be it chorus, recitative, arioso, aria or choral is given such minute attention, performed with such incredible skill, and played out to such dramatic extremes that it is simply more than one can take in in a first listening.

As opposed to many other lovers of this version, I haven't a word of criticism against the "historically informed" performances (which this performance was considered to be in its time - I wonder what future musicologists will think of the current holders of the title), but a person who cannot enjoy this performance, I am lead to conclude, is more in love with theory than she is with music.

Two notes:

First, this is an old recording, and therefore it is somewhat lacking. Nothing that interferes with the music, but a background hiss is audible.

Second, because of its slowness, this version of Bach's masterpiece is much longer than the others. This, of course, is of secondary importance to artistic merit, but if choosing between two versions of equal merit, doesn't the fact that the pleasure lasts longer make this performance preferable?

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic on its own terms, December 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Bach: St. Matthew Passion (Audio CD)

Not sure what purpose is served by using Dr. Klemperer as a stick with which to beat on the historically informed performance crowd. I would no sooner characterize their efforts as heartless than his as like that of a lumbering dinosaur.
As to brainwashing, many of my friends who are musicians and academics have both Klemperer and Gardiner's cds on their shelves. While the latter embraces a newly founded scholarly tradition which has reinvigorated the performance of baroque music, Klemperer harkens to the 19th century tradition of Mendelssohn, presenting the Passion as a monumental spectacle.
Yes, it is slow and stern, gigantic, glacial and granitic. It also features what may be the best vocal team ever heard in this work. Do take the plunge if you can bear a very slow moving yet very intense experience.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A sad sabotage of Klemperer's efforts., February 28, 2010

By 

Abel "AMY" (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bach: St. Matthew Passion (Audio CD)

Some claim that this 'slow' version of Bach's majestic "St. Matthew's Passion" is an 'acquired taste'.

While we now tend to have much brisker tempi for barqoue compositions in modern period performances, this version by Otto Klemperer and his fantastic group of soloists is by no means 'obsolete' if...

the tempi in all different sections were being kept to the same slow momentum.

In the early 19th century revival of JS Bach's works at Liepzig, the approach towards Bach's sacred works was generally grandiose and slower. There is much merit in this, since in a work such as a Passion, nothing meaningful would be served by submitting to quicker tempo. What's the drama? What's the mood? What's the musical purpose?

However, as I mentioned, the success of this recording was being smeared by the much brisker narrative sections - the evangelism.

Why should the evangelist sing the recitatives in a quicker tempo than the main story is some thing that I could never understand. In my modern religious experience in Passion Sunday liturgy, such 'hurriedness' adds nothing to the solemnity and profoundness of the religious experience of the congregation. As a rule, commentators are forewarned NOT to disrupt the overall mood of the liturgy by drawing excessive attention to himself, or by inappropriately light-hearted commentations.

The evangelist here (Peter Pears) did almost just that.