St John Passion, BWV245
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J. S. BACH
St John Passion, BWV245
James Gilchrist, Matthew Rose, Ashley Riches, Elizabeth Watts, Sarah Connolly / Academy of Ancient Music Orchestra & Chorus, Richard Egarr
[ AAM Records / 2 CD ]
Release Date: Friday 10 July 2015
JS Bach's St John Passion is an intensely personal experience, bringing to life the humanity of the passion story. Combining raw viscerality with moments of exquisite intimacy, it was written soon after Bach's arrival as Kantor at Leipzig's Thomasschule. Keen to impress a new congregation, Bach produced a setting of the age-old passion story which overshadowed almost every piece of liturgical music the world had previously known. Our recording aims to capture the authenticity and vivacity of the very first Good Friday performance at Leipzig's Nikolaikirche.
Over the past 40 years the AAM has made over 300 recordings of baroque and classical music, winning Brit and Grammy Awards along the way. This is our first-ever recording of the St John Passion. With a superlative cast including James Gilchrist, Sarah Connolly, Andrew Kennedy, Elizabeth Watts, Christopher Purves and Matthew Rose, and directed by Richard Egarr, this is a landmark project.
"The pleasures of Egarr's reading lie not so much in his use of the original 1724 score (less elaborate than Bach's better-known revisions), and more in his line-up of top-rank English soloists. James Gilchrist is the persuasive Evangelist, Matthew Rose an expressive Jesus and Ashley Riches an effective Pilate." Financial Times, 16th March 2014 ***
"No one could accuse Richard Egarr of skimping in this new John Passion...It's not just the pedigree of the solo line-up that oozes luxury...Egarr whips up venomous indignation for the crowd's joustings with Pilate. Sarah Connolly's 'Es ist vollbracht' is searing...And Elizabeth Watts's 'Zerfliesse, mein Herze' is almost unbearably poignant." BBC Music Magazine, April 2014 ****
"This is a St John with a distinct character of its own, and whether or not that will appeal is up to the listener. Those who prefer choral singing with sharp-etched attack and refined blend may be disappointed by what they find here...but Egarr is good at using his 16-voice chorus to release the music's natural line and warmth. That and its humanity." Gramophone Magazine Award Finalist, Best Vocal Baroque 2014
"Gilchrist as the Evangelist is an incisive and emotional storyteller, capitalising on the drama of the Easter story...If you want a scaled-down, intimate version of this work - the absence of a big choral sound will not suit all tastes - this is recommended." The Observer, 6th April 2014 ****
"Gilchrist [is] a highly articulate Evangelist...Matthew Rose a distinctly human Jesus and Ashley Riches a suitably assertive Pilate...There is some gorgeous solo playing...Musically, then, this is a splendid performance which leaves the listener exhausted...The key word is contemplation, and that is the one thing missing." International Record Review, May 2014
