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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still at the top, May 17, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Bach: St. Matthew Passion / Rolfe Johnson, Bonney, von Otter, Chance, Crook; Gardiner (Audio CD)
More than a decade after its release, this recording remains a benchmark for this sublime work. It may have been joined by the recent Herreweghe as a prime recomendation, but it certainly has not been bettered. Despite what some listeners say on this site, it's far from being only a superficial account. True, it's much faster than Klemperer's classic version, but why should we consider slow as the same as profound? I can think of only one instance of a tempo faster than appropriate here, in "Ich will dir mein Herze schenken", which is anyway lovingly sung by Barbara Bonney. In every other aria, Gardiner's tempos just sound right. Listen, for instance, to how he takes "So ist mein Jesus nun Gefangen" moderately (Herreweghe, Brüggen and Suzuki are noticeably faster) and then releases a furious "Sind Blitze, sind donner" and read the texts. Or notice how the tender and deeply felt singing of Michael Chance in "Erbarme dich", coupled with the gracious violin solo of Elizabeth Wilcock, is exceptionally attuned to the bitter weeping of the lyrics. Gardiner's version is, that's sure, a very dramatic account of the work. Here some may prefer a more contemplative approach, and they would be well served by Suzuki's recent recording. But Gardiner's delivery of the narrative is much more gripping, with an exceptional Evangelist in the voice of Anthony Rolfe-Johnson and some of the most impressive crowd's scenes ever, enhanced by the superb singing of the Monteverdi Choir. Herreweghe's excelent new recording, which is also intensely dramatic (more so in the arias, actually), can't compare to Gardiner's in such moments as when the crowd shouts for the freedom of "Barrabam" and soon after demands Jesus's crucifixion. Gardiner's recording also benefits from a uniformly good team of soloists (Anne Sofie von Otter gives a performance of "Können Tränen" that deserves to be a reference and the Jesus of Andreas Schmidt is outstanding) and the exquisite playing of the English Baroque Soloists. Recent recordings, especially Herreweghe's, tend to smooth the sound with a more legato playing, and certainly many people will prefer this approach, which makes the period instruments sound closer to modern ones. But the clear articulation employed by Gardiner is still a joy to hear, and his ability to draw the most beautiful blend from his players remains unsurpassed.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Among the top 4, March 30, 2005
This review is from: Bach: St. Matthew Passion / Rolfe Johnson, Bonney, von Otter, Chance, Crook; Gardiner (Audio CD)
The Matthauspassion of J.S. Bach is among the world's greatest masterpieces of music, and Gardiner's Monteverdi Choir is one of the most professional choirs singing today, so right there we're starting off with an advantage.
The great opening Chorus for double-chorus and a children's choir of trebles is a masterpiece within a masterpiece. (Gardiner uses a children's chorus containing girls, an unusual choice.)
However, there are problems.
Gardiner seems more concerned with the choral parts --sticking to the strengths of his ensemble-- than the solo movements. The choruses, chorales and turbae (the short choral statements where the chorus speaks for the crowd, e.g. "crucify him!") are done well and with energy, smoothness, ensemble, and beautiful chording. But Gardiner seems to hurry through the solos to get to the choruses.
In my humble opinion, the Passion has both a dramatic character as well as a reflective character. When you hear it for the first time, it's the drama that grabs you. On subsequent hearings (esp. if you subscribe to the religious and spiritual beliefs presented in this work) it is the reflection that appeals to one, certainly to me. And at the time of this recording, Gardiner seems not to have been sympathetic to the reflective character of the work. If you're preoccupied with "Let's not get sentimental about this," this is what you'd produce. May I be forgiven for imagining that this is British Stiff Upper-Lip taken a little too far?
The tempi are a tad too fast in general.
However, look on the bright side:
Gardiner emphasizes the drama beautifully. This is a good choice for young people exploring Bach for the first time.
The soloists are excellent, especially Cornelius Hauptmann, who does a wonderful job of "Mache Dich mein Herze rein," --make Thou my heart pure. In spite of Gardiner's hurrying, Hauptmann sings a tender, heartfelt aria that is a highpoint of the work.
Other beautiful moments are
1. the contralto aria "Buss und Reu," where Bach's representation of teardrops are performed beautifully,
2. the solo+chorus number Ïch will bei meinem Jesu wachen. (Count the number of entries of the choral interjection, whose translation is roughly "So rest my cares . . ." there should be exactly 11, one for each remaining disciple.)
3. the chorale, O Mensch, bewein dein Sundre gross. Unforgettable;
4. the last piece, a lullaby and a dirge for the dead Jesus.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This is a solid performance of this work; one of the best, January 2, 2005
This review is from: Bach: St. Matthew Passion / Rolfe Johnson, Bonney, von Otter, Chance, Crook; Gardiner (Audio CD)
I simply do not understand why there is such harsh criticism about this recording of Gardiner's. His performance is certainly not perfect, but it is not so bad as to derserve the kind of criticism such that makes this work into a joke! This work is definitely no joke, but, on the other hand, is very serious and somber in nature because the passion of Christ is serious subject matter. And when listening to this version of St. Matthew's Passion there is NOTHING that takes away, or distracts from the true motivation behind this work, which is a meditation on the text, and the mood with the texts on the sufferings of Christ. If it is only shallow emotion, booming vocalists who have their fists clenched, or an overly-dramatic conductor that one desires in this recording, then instead of this recording, purchase some romantic composition such as Beethoven, Brahms, etc. However, if one desires to meditate on the sufferings of the Savior of mankind,(which was Bach's true intention for this work) then purchase this recording. In my opinion, the piece that truly stands out and should receive nothing but praise is the opening chorus (Kommt, ihr Tochter helft mir klagen/ O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig) If you listen to nothing else in this compilation, at least listen to this particular opening chorus because it is one of, if not THE greatest moments in all of Bach's works. I have heard slow, drawn-out romantic versions of this chorus, and choppy, march-like versions, however one will not go wrong with Gardiner's version.
As for comparing and contrasting the styles of the two famous Bach performers in that of Herreweghe and Gardiner, the two are so much alike with their tempos that if one of them is criticized for taking a piece too fast then both of them should! What it comes down to is that one cannot go wrong with either of the two conductors for they are both good in their own right. It is true that Gardiner takes many of the pieces too fast, which is why this recording is not worthy of five stars, and his ensemble is a bit too large, however the skill of his performers makes up for that and the two extremes of an oversized Karajan ensemble and an undersized Rifkin ensemble are the alternatives. Gardiner's ensemble is small enough that one can hear all the parts, not as clearly as a Herreweghe and especially a Rifkin however, but large enough to not be an overpowering, jumbled mess of unclarified sound. I do share the criticism of those who think that Gardiner rushes through the chorales in particular, however I do NOT share the thought that they lack passion and feeling. As said before, Baroque music is NOT ROMANTIC music, and a characteristic of such style would be extreme fluctuations of softness and loudness containing more variations of depth in the music (which some label as "emotional" and "feeling") And yes, romantic music IS more of an emotional style of music for those very reasons. But that does not mean that BAROQUE music also contains these qualities. Another criticism for this recording has to do with those very attributes of romantic music, of which are sadly found in the the chorus (O Mensch, bewein dein Sunde gross). In this particular chorus, Gardiner not only takes the tempo too quickly, but varies the tone quality far too much. The chorus is almost whispering "O" at the beginning of the piece as if they do not want you to hear them, yet they develop too loudly near the end. This I found very disappointing because the the sound that is supposed to be heard the very moment the voices join with the instruments should a blending or meshing quality rather than a drowned out, sorry-sounding whisper.
Despite these criticisms, do not let them detract you from valuing this recording, because every recording has its flaws and this one has very few.
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