St Matthew Passion, BWV244
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J. S. BACH
St Matthew Passion, BWV244
Werner Güra, Johannes Weisser, Sunhae Im, Bernarda Fink, Christina Roterberg, Topi Lehtipuu / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs
[ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD Box Set ]
Release Date: Friday 1 November 2013
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
GRAMMY NOMINATION 2014 - Best Choral Recording
It has haunted René Jacobs since childhood: first as a boy soprano in Ghent, then as a countertenor, he has constantly frequented the supreme masterpiece that is the 'St Matthew Passion'. Jacobs uses the layout of the Good Friday Vesper service from Bach's time, with choirs front and back, rather than side-by-side. He also gives us extra soloists to complete the bi-choral effect. For Bach, the two halves were 28 metres apart. At that distance, coordination difficulties begin to appear between the speed of light, and the speed of sound, and we cannot determine how Bach dealt with this problem.
As ever, harmonia mundi's production values are such that we are given several essays on the concept of the layout in Bach's time, reflections on the new recording by René Jacobs, full texts and biographies in a 176 page booklet, with sumptuous packaging. This is, somewhat surprisingly, René Jacobs' first recording of 'St Matthew'.
"the novelty lies in Jacobs' games with acoustics and space in his studio location in Berlin...this spatial separation keeps you listening intently and listening afresh. Jacobs's Passion is intimate, dramatic, conducted with audible love...Güra's Evangelist makes a compelling guide; Fink is most eloquent, with Johannes Weiss solid as Jesus" The Times, 18th October 2013 ****
"Just eyeing the roster gives one a good sense of the quality of the singing on this disc; Especially notable are Werner Gura's Evangelist, surely the best I have ever heard on disc, in a style that emphasizes narrative qualities without sacrificing emotion, but refraining from indulging the narrator in emotional tones that more properly belong to the arias. And Bernarda Fink is simply spectacular, though singling her out is in no way meant to denigrate the remarkable contributions of the others. Jacob's orchestra is top-notch as usual, and the spatial aspects of this score are brilliantly captured, from the softest and most delicate moments to the almost overwhelming sonic splendor of the amassed full forces." (Five Stars AudAud)
"Jacobs has a magnificent vocal presence of soloists from Choir I - led by the polished and increasinly believable Evangelist of Werner Güra...and a Christus in Johannes Weisser who is intensely human, even febrile as he confronts the terrible events one by one...Jacobs's attention to texture and matters of accentuation is what defines his most compelling short-term characterisation." (Gramophone)
"Despite uneven casting of the soloists - Sunhae Im's thin, wiry soprano is not to my taste - this is essential listening, not only for Jacobs's spatial innovations, but for Werner Güra's gripping Evangelist and Johannes Weisser's youthful, unsanctimonious Christ." (Sunday Times)
