Bach:Matthaüs Passion [Excerpts]

On this CD:

1. Matthäuspassion (St. Matthew Passion), BWV 244
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra / Netherlands Bach Society with Guy Demey, Peter Kooy, Klaus Mertens, Christoph Pregardien, Barbara Schlick
Conducted by Ton Koopman

Customer Reviews:

A new 'old' approach to a familiar work.......2005-09-12

I purchased this recording largely out of curiosity, not really knowing what to expect. It has become de rigeur for any recording of this work (or any Bach work for that matter) to adhere to what is understood by the conductor to be proper (Historically Informed) performance practice (probably the last major release of this work on modern instruments was that led by Raymond Leppard in the early 80s, which, incidentally, is very fine). This recording makes use of Felix Mendelssohn's edition which he created in 1829 for the revival of the work. There was no such thing as an historically informed performance practice ethos then; in fact, such an effort would have been, at best, mystifying to performers and audience alike, if not greeted with outright hostility. Mendelssohn adapted the score as he saw necessary, most evidently in the choice of divided violas and cellos to accompany the Evangelist and other soloists (thankfully he did not employ the piano to realize the figured bass). The one exception is the 'earthquake recit' where Mendelssohn used the full string section to back up the Evangelist. Jesus is accompanied as originally written, with full string sections playing (save for the moment he cries out "Eli, Eli, lama asabtani?"). Some re-writing of the Evangelist's part is also in evidence, mostly in avoidance of high notes (which, as we know now, were really sung about a 1/2 step lower than our modern pitch).
Some of Bach's instrumental choices, like viola da gamba and oboe d'amore, were already old-fashioned and becoming scarce in his time, and of course had competely vanished by the 19th c. The movements using gamba obbligatto are missing entirely and clarinets substitute for the more exotic varieties of oboe Bach calls for.
Also missing are many of the graces that Bach wrote into the score, and there is virtually no improvised ornamentation. The missing graces are very noticeable to one familiar with the work in the movement 'So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen.' I have to admit however, that I really enjoyed the raw power that the mdern instruments and mixed choir bring to 'Sind Blitze, sind Donner in Wolken verschwunden?' which immediately follows.
In general, the conductor has made good tempo choices, not succumbing to the recent trend of faster and faster performances of early music (a couple of HIP recordings of this work give an almost gigue-like character to the opening movement, "Kommt Ihr Töchter;" in the words of one critic, "Jesus jogging to Golgotha, pumping his cross the whole way.") . Some of the chorales wallow a bit much, and there are some surprising dynamic fluctuations. It is not clear to me however if those are conductor choices, or directions Mendelssohn added to his score.
Mendelssohn's re-scoring of the 'earthquake recit' ("Und siehe da, der Vorhang in Tempel zeriß") with full strings sections rumbling along will likely bring a smile to the lips of the hearer familiar with the work in its original guise but there's no denying the inherent drama of the performance.
Nowadays it is very easy to be dismissive of these early efforts at performance of pre-Classical (Haydn-Mozart-Beethoven) music, but I found myself very attracted to this effort. The changes Mendelssohn made mainly reflected the realities he faced: no harpsichord, and probably no organ in the space used for the 1829 performance, certainly no gamba or oboe d'amore players (or viole da gamba or oboi da'more for that matter), and no boy sopranos. But he made it possible for a brand new audience to hear this music for the first time in 3 generations, and he started an interest in the music of Bach that grew to encompass the music of Bach's contemporaries and predecessors, an interest that became an enthusiasm that continues today, 175 years later. The edition and the performance on this recording reflect genuine admiration and affection for the material. It's a good addition to the collection of the cognoscente, and for those just learning Bach, it might be more to your liking-- at least initially-- than some of the more hard-core HIP versions by Leonhardt et al.

Not just a curiosity.......2003-06-17

I purchased this recording for purely academic purposes, as there is no other way to hear the Mendelssohn arrangement of the St. Matthew Passion. While listening and taking notes of obvious differences, I decided that I rather like the recording for artistic reasons and that it is more than a worthwhile listen.

There are cuts, only a few in the first part (the soprano recitative and aria "Ich will dir mein Herze schenken" and the bass recitative aria "Gerne will ich mich bequemen" are omitted, along with the chorale "Ich will heir bei dir stehen." The second part cuts 10 different sections, shortens a couple of recitatives and eliminates the B section and da capo of "Mache dich mein Herze rein." It is interesting to note that two of the movements cut from the second part are the tenor and bass arias with viola da gamba obligato; perhaps Mendelssohn wasn't sure what to do with the instrument. The aria "Erbarme dich" is also incorrectly marked on the package as being for soprano; it should read "alto."

The instrumentation is of interest, but there are not a lot of drastic changes. Rather than utilize a continuo keyboard, Mendelssohn substitutes chords on the lower strings (reserving the high violins for Jesus' halos). The oboes d'amore and oboes da caccia become clarinets. Presumably this was for convenience rather than artistic reasons as the transposition for oboe d'amore and A clarinet is the same; English horns were not readily available to replace the oboes da caccia, especially not in pairs. The recorder/oboe da caccia combination in "O Schmerz" probably loses the most to this change, becoming more pointed and less hollow that the original instrumentation.

The singing is all of very high quality, as is the playing. One of the problems in judging the soloists is the competition that any singer of the St. Matthew Passion is up against; few sopranos will ever measure up to Janowitz, Schwarzkopf, Barbara Bonney, or Edith Mathis. The Evangelist is good, although he doesn't give the same feeling to the part as Rolfe-Johnson, Schreier or Pears. (He also noticeably avoids the high B at "und ging heraus" in No. 38. Given how some other tenors sing this, it may have been a wise choice). The bass soloist is my favorite of the six, the baritone doesn't give as emotionally charged a version of Jesus as I might like. The also is quite good, although the aria by which I typically judge a performance ("Sehet, Jesus hat die Hand") is cut. (It is also of note that the alto sings the corrected B-double-flat in "Ach Golgatha" which was printed as a B-flat in every edition until the Bärenreiter Neue Bach Ausgabe, so this recording was probably influenced by the new scholarship as well as the Mendelssohn revision as well). The aria tenor is not particularly remarkable, but the quartet functions well.

As I said at the beginning, I initially thought this recording would be a curiosity from the scholarly standpoint, and it certainly is and bears a look from anyone who has multiple recordings of St. Matthew Passion. As it has cuts, I would not recommend that it be your only copy, but it is far more than a novelty.

A Must-Have Recording.......2003-01-16

In Bach's life he was not famous as a composer. Rather, he was famous for his improvisitory skill at the organ. After his death in 1750, he was a forgotten man.

Still, his successors (Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, etc.) were the few to recognize his genius for almost a century.

In either 1727 or 1729, Bach composed the St. Matthew Passion- arguably the most perfect music in Western culture, and after the death of the master, the St. Matthew Passion, too, was forgotted.

Felix Mendelssohn, as a child, had recieved a copy of the St. Matthew Passion sheet music from an older relative. It's unique double chorus setting and Bach's heartfelt music to Picander's richly sybolic poetry captivated the young Mendelssohn, but it wasn't until 1829, the centennial of the composition, that the merely 20-year-old Felix Mendelssohn revived the work and the world again became awakened to the miracle of Bach's genius. This recording is a must have (highly recommended to newcomers to Bach's works) because it offers a new vision of a timelessly popular work.

Mendelssohn's audience, of course, was different than Bach's. And so Mendelssohn had to make revisions to the work to make it more in tune to the trends of his time. For instance: the Evangelist is accompanied by full strings instead of just an organ continuo. The chorale "O Lamm Gottes Unschuldig" is sung by Sopranos, Altos, Tenors, and Basses, rather than just Sopranos. Many arias are shortened (for instance, instead of using ABA form [da capo form] in the aria "Buss und Reu" he uses the AB form.) Many arias are omitted (such as "Sehet Jesus hat die Hand.") The note values for the chorales are lengthened and the the last chorale sung immediately following Christ's death ("Wenn ich einmall soll Scheiden") is approached in a beautiful a capella. The chorus Mendelssohn used was much, MUCH larger than that used by Bach. Mendelssohn's choir reached well over a hundred, whereas Bach used only 12 singers total: 4 solo voices for each choir and 4 more for occasional lines. There are also many more changes to list.

These are not bad aspects at all, and rather, it helps make the St. Matthew Passion more dramatic. Mendelssohn knew which were key dramatic elements in the text and shortened the music to emphasize them. The result is thoroughly exciting.

Christoph Spering's conducting here is first rate. He demonstrates that he knows how to keep the drama flowing.

The Orchestra helps add atmosphere to this Bach-Mendelssohn work while adding an authentic, historically informed rendition keeping in mind Baroque and Romantic practices. The soloists are all excellent. The Evangelist is simply amazing and, in my opinion, ranks second only to the likes of classic St. Matthew Passion Evangelists such as Anthony Rolfe-Johnson and Ian Bostridge.

This recording does not come with a libretto and the liner notes span only a page, but they are available at the record label's website.

Spering's present recording is of the 1841 version of the Mendelssohn-Bach St. Matthew Passion. This is the only recording of the Mendelssohn arrangement available on record.

Tracks:

Kommt, ihr Tochter, helft mir klagen - De Nederlandse Bachvereniging/Sacramentskoor Breda (Soprano)
Du lieber Heiland du - Kai Wessel
Buss' und Reu' - Kai Wessel
Blute nur, du liebes Herz! - Barbara Schlick
Ich bin's, ich solte bussen - De Nederlandse Bachvereniging
Ich will dir mein Herze schenken - Barbara Schlick
Ich will bei meinem Jesu wachen - Guy de Mey/Sacramentskoor Breda
So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen - Barbara Schlick
Sind Blitze, sind Donner in Wolken verschwunden - De Nederlandse Bachvereniging
O Mensch, bewein' dein' Sunde gro- De Nederlandse Bachvereniging (Soprano)
Erbarme dich - Kai Wessel
Gebt mir meinen Jesum wieder - Klaus Mertens
Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben! - Barbara Schlick
O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden - De Nederlandse Bachvereniging
Mache dich, mein Herze, rein - Klaus Mertens
Nun ist der Herr zur Ruh' gebracht - Barbara Schlick/Kai Wessel/Christoph Pregardien/Klaus Mertens
Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder - De Nederlandse Bachvereniging/Sacramentskoor Breda

Customer Reviews:

An intense moment of emotion and redemption.......2000-11-05

I here speak of the full version Ton Koopman just released.Saint Matthew Passion is an extremely long and rich oratorio. Johan Sebastian Bach follows Saint Mattew very closely and gives a vision of Jesus that is exciting and most inspiring. We find a full image of Jesus before the Last Supper and during this Last Supper. We have a standard vision of Judas. But When Jesus and his disciples go to pray during the night, waiting for the arrest that is supposed to happen before dawn, Jesus gives us a marvelous vision of his mission. He goes away to pray a first time after asking his disciples to remain awake and watch out. This first time he asks his Father to take the ordeal away, though he declares that he will accept if it cannot be avoided. Then he comes back to his disciples and finds them asleep. His conviction this time is complete. If society is that taken up by alienation (be it gold in the temple, or submission to the material, physical and political environment) there is an extreme urgency for the ordeal to go through, for the salvation to come only through the ordeal that may then wake up the people. So he goes back to pray and this time he does not ask his father to take the ordeal away, but he tells him that since it cannot be taken away, he is ready for it. He accepts his mission because he has built his conviction that it is the only way to bring humanity back to clear thinking. So he will go through the trial, the torture and the crucifixion without any complaining or resistance. Note here thhis is Saint Matthew's idea of what happened, but he never was a direct witness of these events. The music is perfectly adapted to this meaning and all the pieces express the feelings of Jesus, of the Christian audience who is considered as convinced of this truth, and of the various actors of this drama. The final piece is the most beautiful celebration of redemption in our active and willing submission to death and suffering. Ton Koopman gives to that masterpiece by Bach the density it needs, with maybe a slightly too heavy interpretation due to the size of the ochestra and the choir that is a lot bigger than what Bach had thought of, what Bach could use in his days. Yet a beautiful moment of communion in redemption and inspiration in human suffering. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.

Sentimental education.......2000-06-17

The weakness of an excerption of the St. Matthew's Passion is that it cannot (if it is to fill only one CD) carry the story. It must necessarily stick to the Choruses and arias that comment on the action while forsaking the narration of the events themselves. Since, however, the Choruses and Aria are a white-hot emotional comment on the narrated events, this disadvantage is offset, in a really good CD of excerpts, by immersing the listener in emotional content. In a full version of the Passion, there is time for reflection. The Recitatives of the Evangelist and Jesus carry the story and allow reflection. In a good collection of excerpts there is only one gut-wrenching musical episode after another. Ton Koopman's is not just good, but a wonderful series of emotional vegnettes. From the opening, when one choir asks the other to share in their grief at Jesus' grave, to Jesus' arrest, when the choir demands to know why lightning doesn't strike his captors and Hell not open to swallow them up, to when Judas returns his forty pieces of silver, and the soloist comments You've got your money, give us back our Jesus, or the Chorus singing Jesus' corpse a hushed and heartfelt lullaby; all the way through, Koopman maintains the emotional pressure. Throughout the CD is intense, on the money, and relentless. A masterpiece.

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