James MacMillan: St John Passion [Hybrid SACD] [Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import]

Christopher Maltman (Performer), James [2] MacMillan (Composer), Colin Davis (Conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Christopher Maltman
• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Colin Davis
• Composer: James [2] MacMillan
• Audio CD (February 10, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import
• Label: Lso Live UK
• ASIN: B001O1WHG4
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,820 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #85 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Passions

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So much Passion., October 31, 2010

By 

H. Nederlof "Jesse James" (Heusden, Holland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: James MacMillan: St John Passion [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

I do not understand the reviewer who gave this piece 1 star. This really an outstanding piece of music from one of the best composers of our generation. A composer with a unique 'voice' in classical music.
Of course he uses some elements from early periods, but is that wrong? I don't think so. I see it as respect for what has past. Listen to the beautiful last part of "Jesus and his Mother" or the "The Death of Jesus" Incredible stuff!!! And i am not saying this because i am a believer. I am almost a atheist. I just have an ear for good music.

You talk about Part? If there is one composer who really uses material from a period that lies far beyond us than it is Arvo Part. His music is so dull. Most of what he writes has been done much better by composers 50 to 100 years earlier. Listen to his new symphony, its so boring..........

MacMillan has so much more to say. This is really one of the best choral works i have in my collection, and i have a lot. It's not a work that you will understand by listening ones. Its a massive sometimes rough piece that 'grows in your mind' by repetition and wont let you go for a long time!

The recording and playing are marvelous.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transcendental music, full of genuine beauty and adoration, October 12, 2010

By 

Storylover (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: James MacMillan: St John Passion [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

I am listening to the St. John Passion by MacMillan as I type this. It has been a favorite of mine for the last year or so, and I am struck by its beauty, freshness, and power over and over again. MacMillan is one of the greatest composers of our time, a claim which I do not make lightly. He first came to my attention in his splendid if flashy concerto for percussion written for Evelyn Glennie about 20 years ago. Since then, i have heard him write piece after piece of genuinely wonderful music. He is not one of the new tonalists, bent on bringing back romanticism in all its squishy glory (not that I don't enjoy romantic music, but the world has moved on, I believe); nor is he a serialist stuck in the last century exploring overly trodden academic territory. He isn't an Arvo Part or John Tavener. He is himself--he incorporates chant, choral tradition, orchestral splendor, and moments of intense passion and beauty into his score. The score itself is one which asks to be analyzed critically as well as enjoyed emotionally--structure, structure, structure everywhere, but above all things, the music must serve the text for MacMillan, and he has poured all the power of St. John's account of the Passion of the Christ into his rendition.

This is a wonderful piece. Beautiful, austere, full of amazing choral writing, well worth the time for exploration. Check it out.

1 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Obnoxious and obvious, May 1, 2010

By 

The Crat (La Crescenta, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: James MacMillan: St John Passion [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Here is a composer who uses all the cheapest tricks in his disposal (stolen from far better contemporary composers) to make his religious points, brow-beating his listeners with his beliefs and biases rather than attempting to woo them with the quality of his compositions. For "religiously-based" music, far better to listen to Messiaen or Part (or Schoenberg).