Matthäus-Passion
Johann Sebastian Bach
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Matthäus-Passion
Johann Sebastian Bach
The great Venetian mass
Antonio Vivaldi
Messe in h-Moll : BWV 232
Johann Sebastian Bach
Royal Handel
Georg Friedrich Händel
Richard : Strauss - Wagner
Richard Strauss
Re-Winding
Kasper Winding
Kleine geistliche Konzerte I
Heinrich Schütz
Requiem
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wanderer
Andreas Scholl
Messiah
Georg Friedrich Händel
d. 27. Apr. 2017
By
By
Kate Molleson
d. 27. Apr. 2017
"This passion is brutal from the start: bass notes in the opening chorus are full of threat, a contrabassoon added for extra thud. But it's also punctuated with sudden and devastating gentleness ... The eight-voice ensemble singing is terrific - now vicious, now officious, now keening - and although the vocal soloists aren't always dazzling ... there's great poise in the alto and bass numbers ... It's an intense, full-throttle account".
d. 3. Apr. 2016
By
By
Nicholas Kenyon
d. 3. Apr. 2016
"A powerful and individual reading ... He favours strongly profiled rhythms, chorales with end-of-line pauses, and full-throated singing from the RIAS Chamber Choir (16 singers, augmented for the chorales".
d. 17. Mar. 2016
By
By
Bernhard Schrammek
d. 17. Mar. 2016
"Einer grandiosen Neueinspielung der Johannes-Passion, in der es zahlreiche Momente gibt, in denen man ganz neue Aspekte in diesem anscheinend altbekannten Werk hören kann ... Bei der hohen Qualität des RIAS Kammerchores kann sich Jacobs denn auch ordentliche Tempi erlauben ... Die Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin folgt Jacobs dabei wieder einmal in grandioser Weise".
2016 April
By
By
Simon Thompson (musikanmelder)
2016 April
"Vurdering: Recording of the month" - "This is the most bitingly dramatic St John Passion to have come my way in years ... That is the story of the whole recording, which I found to be tremendously involving and, in fact, highly recommendable. Dijkstra is the presiding genius, and it is his sense of vision that inhabits everything else ... The other most consistent asset of the recording is Julian Prégardien's Evangelist ... The other soloists are very fine, too ... In short, this is a hit".
2016 March
By
By
Michael Cookson
2016 March
"The Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks deliver full-toned singing marked by a compelling and often moving unity that is constantly rewarding ... Dijkstra has selected his team of soloists remarkably well with each speaker and singer demonstrating an innate sympathy for the sacred text. Telling the story in the crucial role of Evangelist tenor Julian Prégardien demonstrates his affinity for the texts. He is remarkably consistent and has a stunning clarity of diction ... With his usual calm assurance director Dijkstra pulls his forces together to reveal plenty of fine detail ... Dijkstra does indeed step forward with an inspirationally intense performance".
2020 November
By
By
John Quinn (musikanmelder)
2020 November
"Recommended: The first time I put the disc that contains Part One into the player I was rocked back on my heels. I can't readily recall hearing an account of the opening chorus that is so urgent ... It sets the tone for much of what is to follow. This is a taut and dramatic account of the St John Passion ... Suzuki's principal soloists are all excellent ... The singers of Bach Collegium Japan are magnificent throughout ... The 21 instrumentalists of Bach Collegium Japan are just as impressive as their chorus colleagues and never once was I anything other than delighted by the obbligato contributions to the arias ... When one thinks of the pressure under which this recording came into being, I can only take my hat off ... By any measure it is a considerable achievement and a major addition to the discography of both Bach Collegium Japan and this great masterpiece".
2020
By
2020
"On 6 of March 2020, Bach Collegium Japan began their long-awaited 30th anniversary tour of Europe with a performance of Bach's St John Passion ... Concert halls across Europe were closing down and the remaining tour dates were cancelled. Before making their return to Japan, the BCJ agreed with the Kölner Philharmonie to go ahead with the concert that had been planned, in the form of a live streaming without an audience ... and the idea was born to use it for making a recording ... Over the next few days, Suzuki, the BCJ and a team of soloists headed by James Gilchrist as the Evangelist, recorded Bach's rendering of the Passion of Christ, finishing just ahead of complete lockdown. Their efforts are now available on disc as a testimony not only to the drama of Bach's score, but also to the urgency of a week when the world changed".
2020 March
By
By
John Quinn (musikanmelder)
2020 March
"For all I love and respect the St Matthew Passion, my admiration and affection for the St John Passion is even greater, not least because its taut, urgent telling of the story itself brings us face to face - indeed, confronts us - with the drama of the Passion narrative. Here, it's in the best possible hands; Philippe Herreweghe, his singers and instrumentalists penetrate to the heart of Bach's masterpiece".
d. 23. Feb. 2020
By
By
Nicholas Kenyon
d. 23. Feb. 2020
"From the pounding, grinding opening chorus onwards, this is a completely gripping picture of the Passion story ... One shock to a purist early-music approach will be the use of the eloquent tenor Maximilian Schmitt as a thoroughly operatic Evangelist, but he matches well the dramatic approach of the whole ... Herreweghe's choir Collegium Vocale Gent, replenished over the years, is ever fresh and precise".
d. 19. Feb. 2020
By
By
Tal Agam
d. 19. Feb. 2020
"Judging this new Johannes-Passion in its own right, you'd find a flowing, deeply felt and superbly executed period instrument performance by choir, orchestra, and soloists. The main objective seems to let the music be heard as naturally as possible, letting the listener fully appreciate the unfolding story without intrusive musical decisions".
d. 25. Mar. 2016
By
By
David Smith (musikanmelder)
d. 25. Mar. 2016
"Vurdering: Presto disc of the week" - "An immediate, natural-feeling Passion - no showy heroics or histrionics from Jacobs, who has sometimes been known to push the boat out and court controversy in his operatic productions. Here he simply offers a well-thought-out, intelligently-paced and balanced re-telling of the story, clearly and committedly performed, allowing the music and the theology to assume centre stage".
d. 11. Apr. 2017
By
By
Thomas Michelsen
d. 11. Apr. 2017
"Som altid hos den franske barokspecialist virker musikken som noget, han nynner, mens han slipper orkester og sangsolister løs, og uden man rigtig mærker det, sidder man pludselig selv med et lille smil om munden ... Lothar Odinius som Johannes har slank styrke, spændende farver og ingen problemer i højden ... Jesus ... er roen selv, orkanens øje, og jeg skal love for, Christian Immler leverer ... Danske Ditte Højgaard Andersen føjer sin smukt modnede lyriske sopran til dramaet ... Mindre end fremragende er Marc Minkowski og hans håndplukkede solister under ingen omstændigheder".
d. 12. Apr. 2022
By
By
Henrik Friis (f. 1978)
d. 12. Apr. 2022
"Det er tredje gang i sin lange karriere som Bach-ekspert, den 78-årige dirigent John Eliot Gardiner udgiver Johannespassionen. Den første fra 1986 var en fintunet studieindspilning, nummer 2 fra 2003 var optaget live, men var lige så perfekt og detaljeret, som var den blevet til i et studie. Det kunne dette nye album så ikke. Her er musikken rå og upoleret ... Der er masser af action undervejs, hvor Gardiner viser, hvordan Bach kunne illustrere både indre og ydre uvejr med heftige klange ... Man må overgive sig Her er John Eliot Gardiner en mester. Musikken danser rundt med liv og sjæl, og selv om man overhovedet ikke interesserer sig for kristne spørgsmål, må man som musikelsker overgive sig til den musikalske puls".
d. 21. Apr. 2011
By
By
Henrik Friis (f. 1978)
d. 21. Apr. 2011
"Heftige korsange, smertelige arier og fortællende recitativer følger lytteren gennem lidelseshistorien ... Johannespassionen hos Gardiner er hele vejen timet, tæt og udtryksfuld med ordet i centrum som det, der skal iscenesættes".
d. 30. Apr. 2008
By
By
John Christiansen
d. 30. Apr. 2008
d. 22. Mar. 2006
By
By
Bernhard Lewkovitch
d. 22. Mar. 2006
"Kings College Choir Cambrige med Stephen Cleobury på podiet garanterer for stil og smag. Bortvendt fra dyrkelsen af "navne", som disse udførelser er, skal så meget mere diskretionen fremhæves som en sjælden dyd i disse omgivelser. Faktisk som en betydelig konkurrent til de nok så berømte optagelser med de solister, man kender fra andre udgaver og for den sags skyld også fra operaens verden".
d. 24. Mar. 2002
By
d. 24. Mar. 2002
2013 Juni
By
By
Marcus Stäbler
2013 Juni
"Das alles ist aus historischer Perspektive fraglos sehr spannend ... Butt ... vertraut auf das kleinstmögliche Vokalensemble mit nur fünf Sängern als Solisten und "Chor". So erzielt er eine maximale Tranparenz, erreicht aber keinen homogenen Klang - und, erstaunlicherweise, auch keine besondere Intimität".
2013 August
By
By
Paul Riley (musikanmelder)
2013 August
"Vurdering: BBC music choice - recording of the month" - "A dramatic, exactingly nuanced, profoundly considered reading, compelling in its integrity and text-driven immediacy ... Mulroy's firmly-contoured Evangelist balances the musical and narrative imperatives of the recitatives with judicious sensitivity ... Brooks's Christus stands up to the crowd with a dignified yet firm resolve and hallowed charisma ... Butt's contextualising demands to be heard: it's nothing short of a revelation".
2016 mai
By
By
Gaëtan Naulleau
2016 mai
2013 April
By
By
Paul Riley (musikanmelder)
2013 April
"This new recording's credentials border on the unassailable ... Layton's pacing is compelling - there's no mistaking the gambling fever as the soldiers cast lots for Christ's garment...[Neal Davies] reserves a melting tenderness for the utterances from the cross. It's crowned by Iestyn Davies's sublime account of 'Es ist vollbracht' ... Both Carolyn Sampson's arias are priceless".
2017 June
By
By
Guy Weatherall
2017 June
"Paring down his vocal forces to just nine voices ... Minkowski achieves great clarity but also great depth of texture. Solos and choruses are shared, and there is no weak link anywhere in the line-up. Odinius's Evangelist is superb, clear and focused, pairing nicely with Immler's rich, sonorout Jesus. Orchestral playing and dramatic timing are of the very highest standard throughout".
2017 Juni
By
By
Johannes Schmitz
2017 Juni
"Eine spannende Aufnahme ... Les Musiciens du Louvre spielen nicht nur mit federnder Beweglichkeit ... sie schaffen atmosphärische Ausgangssituationen, in die sich die Gesangssolisten begeben können ... Lediglich der superbe Evengelist Lothar Odinius ... singt mit Schmelz und ohne Knödel ... Für die übrigen acht Solisten, allesamt mit individuellem Stimmklang: grosses Lob".
2017 September
By
By
Kate Bolton-Porciatti
2017 September
"Marc Minkowski's view of the St John Passion as a combination of theatre, meditation and prayer informs this memorable reading, which flits in a heartbeat from dramatic urgency to otherworldly serenity. The chamber-style chorus, with just two voices to a part, is lissom and detailed ... Notable among the well-balanced soloists are Christian Immler, a noble Christ ... Yorck Felix Speer (Pilate, Peter), and Lothar Odinius (the Evangelist) ... The great strength of this account, though, is Minkowski's fluid shaping of line and motion".
2017 mai
By
By
Gaëtan Naulleau
2017 mai
2024 Juni
By
By
Klemens Hippel
2024 Juni
2016 mars
By
By
Jean-Luc Macia
2016 mars
2016 May
By
By
Paul Riley (musikanmelder)
2016 May
"The Bavarian Radio Choir is a tightly-disciplined outfit, urgent and dramatically engaged in the crowd scenes, and Dijkstra ensures that the chattering chorus as the soldiers cast looks for Christ's robe goes off like a gleeful firecracker".
2016 April
By
By
Johannes Schmitz
2016 April
"Ein extrem gesangliche "Johannes-Passion" legt das Label der Bayerischen Rindfunks vor ... Der grösste Bewundering zieht Julian Prégardien auf sich".
2023 juin
By
By
Jean-Christophe Pucek
2023 juin
2023 Juli
By
By
Reinmar Emans
2023 Juli
"Ich schätze Lars Ulrik Mortensens elementare Musikalität sehr und freue mich über jede neue Aufnahme mit seinem Concerto Copenhagen ... Die Spontaneität ist nun allerdings weniger ausgeprägt und erkennbar. Möglicherweise hängt dieser Eindruck mit der sparsamen Besetzung zusammen. Die vier Solisten bilden mit vier Ripienisten den Chor ... Und doch ist die Balance oftmals nicht ganz glücklich ... Auch das Orchester ist mit jeweils drei ersten und zweiten Geigen sehr schlank besetzt, lässt dadurch aber auch die offenbar angestrebte klangliche Transparenz entstehen".
2021, nr. 60
By
By
Jeppe Rönnow
2021, nr. 60
"Evangelisten James Gilchrist leder os ... fremragende gennem historien, ligesom tenoren Zachary Wilder gør det i sine arier ... Den tjekkiske sopran Hana Blažíková er flot og slank i toppen, men bassen Christian Immler gør det næsten bedre som både bas og Jesus. Det er dog kor- og orkesterarbejdet, der skiller sig særligt ud i denne produktion - det er simpelthen Spitzenklasse ... Tak til Massaki Suzuki og hans Bach Collegium Japan for at have stået alle pinsler imod og foretaget denne indspilning".
2021 März
By
By
Johannes Schmitz
2021 März
"In Summe macht das Solistenquartett den Stimmenfreund zwar nicht glücklich, überzeugt aber musikalisch. Der von den Solisten verstärkte Chor singt mit sehr kontrolliertem Timbre über dem konsequenten Nonvibrato-Spiel des Ensembles, das immer im federnden Modus bleibt. Die Interpretation wahrt einen kammermusikalischen Grundcharakter, gediegen und doch emotional, grelle Klangfarben und krasse Artikulationen meidend".
2012 mai
By
By
Gaëtan Naulleau
2012 mai
"Son [Huggett] approche théâtrale ne craint pas le premier degré : un premier degré si subtil, sensible, humain, qu'il vaut pour toutes les arrière-pensées du monde. Avec des solistes à la hauteur, nous tenions là un relecture majeure".
2012 May
By
By
George Pratt
2012 May
"The opening chorus is the most animated - and fastest - I've heard on disc ... Charles Daniels's narration is focused on meaning rather than vocal lyricism ... Ten more singers provide the chorus. In chorales, they play the congregational role ardently and the singing is sensitively phrased ... The excellent soloists are sometimes hard-pressed ... But still a distinctive contribution to the St John Passions on disc".
2022 April
By
By
Christoph Vratz
2022 April
"Bei der Deutschen Grammophon ist Gardiners dritte Einspielung der "Johannes-Passion" erschienen ... Die klanglich tadellos aufbereitete, hell, frisch, unmittelbar und räumlich klingende Produktion ist vielleicht Gardiners homogenste ... Alles atmet einen Geist aus Erfahrung und Unmittelbarkeit ... Vor allem das Zusammenspiel, das ständige Interagieren von Instrumentalisten und Vokalisten gelingt auf sehr hohem Niveau. Der Chor? Glänsend ... von Routine keine Spur ... Dies ist mustergültig und gehört damit zum harten Kern hervorragender "Johannes-Passionen" ... Die Diskrepanz zwischen den vokalen Sololeistungen und dem hohen Niveau von Chor und Orchester ist der einzige Schwachpunkt dieser neuen Produktion".
2022 April
By
By
Paul Riley (musikanmelder)
2022 April
"The wonder is that in the circumstances the performance emerges so taut, dramatically focused, and exactingly crafted ... Singing off-score, his choir doesn't so much relay the narrative as inhabit it ... And once again he's struck gold in his Evangelist ... Among the arias Julia Doyle's 'Ich folge dir gleichfalls' is a quicksilver delight ... Two decades on, his [Gardiner] Bach has lost none of its bite".
2012 August
By
By
Reinmar Emans
2012 August
"Obwohl alle Sänger auf allerhöchstem Niveau agieren, ragen Christoph Genz als Evangelist mit seiner unerhört flexiblen Rezitativgestaltung und Gerlinde Sämann mit einer grossen Innerlichkeit noch hervor".
2012 September
By
By
George Pratt
2012 September
"His [Kuijken] choir provides heartfelt congregational ardour in chorales, the hysterical ferocity of a crowd thirsting for blood, and objective commentary as onlookers in the opening and closing choruses. They characterise splendidly ... Christoph Genz is an outstanding Evangelist ... And the soloists, too, are excellent".
2014 April
By
By
Paul Riley (musikanmelder)
2014 April
"Egarr doesn't quite pull off the sureness of narrative pacing that distinguishes John Eliot Gardiner's live second recording with the Monteverdi Choir ... Even so, there are riches at almost every turn".
2020 Mai
By
By
Marcus Stäbler
2020 Mai
"Philippe Herreweghe wählt in seiner dritten Einspielung der Johannes-Passion die Erstfassung ... [und] hat sich seit seiner ersten Einspielung von 1987 nicht grundlegend verändert. Er setzt auf moderate Tempi und einen weichen, geschmeidigen Klang im Chor, der mit sechzehn Sängerinnen und Sängern besetzt ist ... Berückend die Sopran- und Altarien von Dorothee Mields und Damien Guillon. Sie setzen die solistischen Glanzlichter der Produktion".
2020 mars
By
By
Jean-Luc Macia
2020 mars
2020 May
By
By
Paul Riley (musikanmelder)
2020 May
"Choral & song choice: Herreweghe's unswerving focus is evident from the opening chorus, whose elemental summons is exactingly calibrated, dark-grained and resolute ... Schmitt's Evangelist narrates with exemplary pacing and dramatic involvement ... Herreweghe's is an ensemble triumph, a symbiotic entwining of voice and instruments that brings about repeated moments of wonder".
2011 June
By
By
Paul Riley (musikanmelder)
2011 June
"Brüggen '92 is perhaps the better vintage; but Sampson in a class of her own".
2016 mai
By
By
Gaëtan Naulleau
2016 mai
2016 Mai
By
By
Klemens Hippel
2016 Mai
"Jacobs nutzt das auch zu sehr reichen dynamischen Differenzierungen und Steigerungen - alle im Dienste der Umsetzung der Passionsgeschichte als dramatischens Geshehen".
2016 June
By
By
Anna Picard
2016 June
"Vurdering: BBC music choral song choice. Clarity of sound and purpose distinguish [this] recording ... Woodwind are placed in front of the strings, allowing for exceptional detail in the turba choruses [while] the soloists sing throughout, sometimes as a quartet, sometimes with the ripieno choir, affording total unity across the arc of the drama ... Evangelist Werner Güra sings with authority".
2011 June
By
By
Paul Riley (musikanmelder)
2011 June
"Here, again, is a St John where musical imperatives tend to take precedence over dramatic onesell-mached team".
2012 Februar
By
By
Marcus Stäbler
2012 Februar
"Überhaupt profitiert die Einspielung des Cantus Cölln unter Konrad Junghänel von einer ganz natürlichen Expressivität ... Die offenbar relativ weit entgernten Mikrofone zeichnen ein räumliches, aber dadurch gelentlich auch etwas wolkiges Klangbild".
2012 May
By
By
Nicholas Anderson
2012 May
"Junghänel sympathetically directs Bach's latest version of his St. John Passion. The Evangelist and other soloists are drawn from the eight-voice ensemble".
2013 March
By
By
Lindsay Kemp
2013 March
"Vurdering: Recording of the month - Vurdering: Gramophone choice" - "Naturalness and emotional honesty are what emerges from this tight-knit and perfectly paced ensemble assion".
2013 June
By
By
Peter Lynan
2013 June
"At this sort of musical reconstruction, Butt's idea is to contextualize the St John Passion, carefully removing it from the gallery wall and setting it in a re-created Vespers service as might have been celebrated on Good Friday in Bach's Leipzig ... The choral parts are sung by ... a strong, tight unit that responds quickly and subtly ... All of the soloists are generally outstanding ... It may be a musical and liturgical reconstrucion of a performance that never actually took place, but for all its presumption and informed guesswork it's a remarkable project".
2013 March
By
By
Marc Rochester
2013 March
"The choral singing is, as we have come to expect from any choir directed by Layton, neat and precise ... This is a particularly distinctive St John Passion, notable for the excellence of the singing and, most particularly, for Bogstridge's masterly Evangelist".
2013 May
By
By
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
2013 May
"Vurdering: Gramophone choice" - "Stephen Layton's outstanding new St John is about as state-of-the-art a Bach Passion recording as you'll hear ... Take as read the urgency, clarity, balance and declamatory unanimity of the chorus ... Layton's reality is about cultivating the focus of each sentiment with supreme corporate executancy ... Bostridge is the master story-teller who surveys all about him ... Alongside the top-class and pliable choral singing of Polyphony comes the roll call of exceptional soloists".
2017 May
By
By
David Vickers
2017 May
"The eight-strong ensemble is unerringly committed to text in Herr, unser Herrscher, which is taken quickly by Minkowski and played vividly by Les Musiciens du Louvre ... The rapid narrative from Lothar Odinius's lively if somewhat dry Evangelist and rapid turba choruses means that there is seldom a dull moment ... Minkowski's willingness to ask fresh questions certainly avoids complacency".
d. 14. Feb. 2000
By
d. 14. Feb. 2000
d. 26. Apr. 2000
By
d. 26. Apr. 2000
2016 May
By
By
David Vickers
2016 May
"[From the outset] the driving bass-lines, turbulently swirling strings, wailing oboes and crisp harpsichord continuo of Concerto Köln establish this as an emotionally engaging performance. The Bavarian Radio Chorus's disciplined precision in vigorous fugues and vividly characterised turba choruses will appeal to those who like some old-fashioned gutsiness and broad sonorities".
2020 Awards
By
By
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
2020 Awards
"Editor's choice: Here we have a reading that feels as if, deep in the psyche of the performers, they know this is all happening close to the wire. Gilchrist is again on masterly form, risking pinpoint precision for graphic description in a way that makes the experience feel `live' in every respect ... Suzuki takes us as co-travellers in a search of faith, not necessarily assuming us all as believers ... This extraordinarily vital, human and emotional rendering joins the recent "St Matthews" in another effulgent release of exceptional expressive candour and range ... and gives us a pair of Passions at the high table of modern Bach discography".
2012 March
By
By
David Vickers
2012 March
"Charles Daniels weaves his narration with beguiling eloquence ... Huggett's astonishingly quick pace for the opening chorus does not prohibit a smooth contrinution from Cappella Romana but the Oregonians' meticulous turba interjections seldom project theatricality ... A product of strong musicianship, detailed thinking and artistic integrity".
2012 July/August
By
By
Carl Rosman
2012 July/August
"There has been quite a harvest of St John Passions lately ... In Avie's new release, renowned Monica Huggett travels to Oregon to direct the period-instrument Portland Baroque Orchestra. The instrumental results are often excellent and it seems that she might have been a special inspiration to the violins in particular ... Daniels's musicality remains impressive throughout but the text seems a little further down his list of priorities than it might be. His fellow soloists are not really at his level ... In the choruses this is audibly a small choir (and an admirably agile one) rather than an augmented consort".
2022 March
By
By
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
2022 March
"Editor's choice: While there is a predominance of young voices in the minor roles and the exceptional Monteverdi Choir, Gardiner's dramatic personae are mainly seasoned Bachians. He gives them full rein to explore the most febrile and visceral aspects for their vocal delivery and dramatic imaginations ... Don't expect polish at every corner as one would a studio recording; both the deliberate and undeliberate rough edges are part of possibly the most incandescently full-blooded interpretation to date ... Brace yourself for an immersive Passion that take no prisoners".
2012 July/August
By
By
Carl Rosman
2012 July/August
"There has been quite a harvest of St John Passions lately ... As was the case with Kuijken's St. Matthew, listeners seeking a more contemplative view of the work will find this recording probably the most satisfying yet - and listeners seeking a version with one voice per part should on no account hesitate".
2012 September
By
By
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
2012 September
"Sigiswald Kuijken's thoughtful and measured St John presents quite a contrast to two recent readings, from the comparatively uneventful Nico van der Meel and the collective emotional impact of Alexander Weimann ... The corporate, unsentimental singing of chorales, soft-grained intstrumental commentaries and a highly responsive continuo team all conspire to form a critically focused and eloquent new account ... where less is more - physically and emotionally".
2014 April
By
By
Lindsay Kemp
2014 April
"In short, this is a St John with a distinct character of its own, and whether or not that will appeal is up to the listener ... Egarr is good at using his 16-voice chorus to release the music's natural line and warmth".
2014 May
By
By
Marc Rochester
2014 May
"Musically, then, this is a splendid performance which leaves the listener exhausted both physically and emotionally".
2020 March
By
By
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
2020 March
"Editor's choice: This is indeed one of the most thoughtful, affecting and powerful St John Passions in recent years. It reveals the mature mastery of Herreweghe at his most perspicacious and consistent, with Collegium Vocale Gent paving the way with gold".
2011 July
By
By
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
2011 July
"Vurdering: E (Editor's choice)" - "Perhaps the most disarming quality overall is the way that Gardiner's understanding of devotional ritual - drawn unquestionably from his unique Pilgrimage a few years earlier - translates into a new world, not wrinkle-free but one where sadness and hope seem to hover as tantalising in this work as I have heard".
2016 June
By
By
Lindsay Kemp
2016 June
"Jacobs picks singers to suit his purpose, and all here show a controlled expressive ardency that never allows the performance's emotional coherence to slip. Werner Güra's Evangelist is both elegant and immediate, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin are typically excellent, and while the RIAS Chamber Choir is not as coolly blended an ensemble as some, who says it has to be in a piece where personal involvement counts for so much".
2011 May
By
By
Richard Lawrence
2011 May
"Cappella Amsterdam numbers only 24 singers but they produce plenty of decibels when required ... The soloists are a mixed bag. As the Evangelist, Markus Schäfer paces the recitatives well".
2011 April
By
By
Nigel Simeone
2011 April
"This is a most moving performance. It is beautifully conduced by Fran Brüggen, unfolding a natural expressiveness that is never short on drama but avoids the slash-and-burn vigour of some other period-instrument versions ... This is a very special recording and one I recommend most warmly".
2012 March
By
By
David Vickers
2012 March
"Cantus Cölln's vastly experienced vocal ensemble has often proved that its sum is greater than its individual parts but on this occasion the solo singing is also consistently effective ... The product of strong musicianship, detailed thinking and artistic integrity, and Cantus Cölln's effort becomes another of my faourite examples of this approach to the St John Passion".
2012 May
By
By
Christopher Price
2012 May
"As always for Bach, Cantus Cölln adopts a near-minimalist approach to performing forces ... its chorus has two voices per part, althoug its "orchestra" is strictly one instrument per part ... Konrad Junghänel directs a fairly conventional but perceptive interpretation and he is admirably supported by his fine instrumental ensemble ... However, the choral and solo singing are somehow dissatisfying on this recording ... Alone of the vocalists, the bass Wolf Matthias Friedrich is outstanding ... This is a rare instance of Cantus Cölln failing to achieve excellence. I hope it is only a blip rather than a trend".