[ Arthaus Musik Blu-Ray / Blu-ray ]
Release Date: Wednesday 10 October 2012
This 2012 recording of the most influential and wide spread oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach features the Hungarian conductor Iván Fischer, a visionary in his field, with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. The double choir is the essential musical aspect on which Iván Fischer's interpretation of Bach's St. Matthew Passion is based. Only by consistently seizing on that duality will all the complementary layers stand out as they should. He describes this essential fundamental aspect as follows: "You can't do the St. Matthew in an unreligious way. The only approach is from a deep, universally religious feeling."
The internationally renowned tenor Mark Padmore is brilliant as the Evangelist, Peter Harvey gives a moving interpretation of Christ. Together with Ingeborg Danz, Renate Arends, Maria Espada, Barbara Kozelj, Peter Gijsbertsen and Henk Neven and the Netherlands Radio Choir they carry the audience through an affecting performance of this masterwork.
"it would be hard to imagine a weightier, more symphonic account, beauty of sound almost an end in itself...Padmore's Evangelist is never one to short-change the narrative, and Peter Harvey's Christus emphasises a dignified humanity" BBC Music
"The solo voices are dominated by Padmore's Evangelist and Peter Harvey's Christus - both are immensely experienced performers of these roles, and both are on excellent form...Fischer presides over proceedings with quiet authority, his consummate musicianship shining through" International Record Review
"[the Concertgebouw players] are, arguably, the most consistently compelling contributors to this performance...a suitable austere reading at times, with clarity of annunciation given priority over extended tonal coloration...Indeed, Fischer almost eschews a personal vision...The benefits are heard in his acute ear for a pure, abstract line" Gramophone