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Home > Classical Music > Featured Performers, A-Z > ( O ) > Bach Matthaus Passion St Matthew Passion BWV 244 Bostridge Selig Rubens Scholl Gura Henschel Collegium Vocale Herreweghe CD Rom
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Bach: Matthaus-Passion (St Matthew Passion) BWV 244 /Bostridge * Selig * Rubens * Scholl * Gura * Henschel * Collegium Vocale * Herreweghe (+CD-Rom) | |||||||
 
| 100% Recommended by our customers. Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr. Catalog: Music Release date: 1999-11-16 Media: Audio CD discs number: 4 Format: Enhanced, Import Ean: 0794881478620 Upc: 794881478620  Tip: compare prices with similar classical music CDsArtist:
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| Professional Review: |
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The St. Matthew Passion, Bach's monumental retelling of the story of the Last Supper and the arrest and execution of Jesus, typically runs from two-and-a-half to three hours. Yet this performance makes the time... well, not exactly fly past (consider the subject matter), but it's not tedious for even a second. Much of the credit for this goes to the marvelous Evangelist, Ian Bostridge. He's an outstanding narrator: the clear tone and diction, skillful timing, and intense involvement with words that made him a famous lieder singer are all in evidence; his part consists of nothing but recitative, yet he holds your interest unfailingly. Franz-Josef Selig gives a more dramatic reading of Jesus than you usually hear these days--he may be a bit too "operatic" for some listeners, but he really communicates his character's very human anguish and sorrow. Similarly, soprano Sibylla Rubens, tenor Werner Güra, and bass Dietrich Henschel sometimes unleash a bit too much vibrato for some tastes, but their singing is full-throated and attractive and they're very sensitive to the nuances in the text and music. Superstar countertenor Andreas Scholl is the standout--he combines unearthly purity with very earthly feeling and blends beautifully with the baroque instruments. The real stars of the record, however, are Philippe Herreweghe and his remarkable choir and orchestra. This conductor and his musicians (especially his radiant choir, Collegium Vocale) have always been superb at conveying warmth, devotion, and contemplation, but intense joy, anguish, or anger have sometimes seemed beyond them. Not here: they cover the full emotional range of this work--from reverent reflection to anguished remorse to churning fury--without ever crossing the line into melodrama or sacrificing clarity. On top of all this, you get a CD-ROM chock full of interesting and well-organized information (in English, German, and French): texts as well as an overview with a timeline of Bach's life, a discussion of how the work is put together, marvelous graphics, sound clips, and an extensive interview with Herreweghe himself. A superb accompaniment to a superb release. --Matthew Westphal |
| User Reviews: |
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Written on May 2, 2000 Summary: Oustanding Evangelist in Ian Bostridge Ian Bostridge is an outstanding Evangelist. Crystal clear diction. He brings more drama to it than those who sing it without "personality". More "input": not simply dispassionate narration/scene-setting for the dialogues and arias. This is no mere historian of the events, or spectator. St Matthew's excitement and involvement/commitment are palpable, without loss of the narrator's essential authority. He gives it the quality of an eye-witness account. Easy to overdo this approach - but he pulls it off with perfect balance. I bought the CD for Andreas Scholl, who is wonderful, but I have to admit that Bostridge is the star among these soloists, who are all way, way above average. Written on April 30, 2000 Summary: Very dramatic First, the two minor problems with this recording. The first is the choral sound in some places: it is not as detailed as it should be. The problem probably has to do with placement in relation to the orchestra. The second problem is an interpretative instead of technical one. It seems to me that, at times, this recording moves away from being contemplative and towards being dramatic. Of course I realize that the content of the work is emotional, and in some way needs a dramatic reading. But on the other hand I think that the performance of this work should let that powerful content support itself; i.e., not force the emotion on the listener. But having said that I very much enjoy this recording. The choral sound is grand and majestic. Ian Bostridge makes a very convincing evangelist. Selig does as stunning job as Jesus. The remaining soloists are more than solid. Overall this recording does an excellent job conveying the mystery and power which is such an integral part of this music. Warmly recommended... Written on April 25, 2000 Summary: This interp. does this work justice... I just finished a performance of St. Matthew Passion in Honolulu...historically accurate...the only thing we didn't have was period instruments. This recording has it all...the instruments and what must be as close to Bach's original tempos as one could hope for. Laid along side the Klemperer performance, the soloists in the Herreweghe treat the piece technically inline with the baroque style...though they were giants of the day, Klemperer's soloists leave out every ornament...and his tempo's are sooooooooooo slowwwwwwww. If you can't find the Leonhardt recording (which I have yet to find myself), this is the one to buy!  Written on March 20, 2000 Summary: Serenity is a two-edge... (something) Good things: splendid singing, glorious orchestral playing, nice CDROM... Not-so-good things: Chorus sometimes sounds a bit anemic, Herreweghe's approach is, as usual, to calm things down. There is some lack of a real "passion". Bottom line: Calm, serene Matthew passion. But what playing and singing! Written on March 19, 2000 Summary: Good, but minor disappointments The acme of Johann Sebastian Bach's choral works, the "St. Matthew Passion", is generally well-performed on this CD. I am not at all happy, however, with the overly fast tempi of some of the choruses and many of the arias. The opening chorus, highly "caffeineated", should have set a more serious tone for the succeeding body of music. Instead, it is glossed over as if it were a jig. Some of the arias race along without affording the listener ample time to let the chords settle in... a serious flaw in an otherwise good CD. I would recommend this CD for one reason especially...Ian Bostridge. His Evangelist has no equal. His expressiveness and musicality are in strong supply here and he sings a most difficult role with great care. It is a pleasure to hear this young tenor. |
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| Collectible price | - | - | - | - | - | $33.98 |
| Catalog | Music | Music | Music | Music | Music | Music |
| Release date | 1999-11-16 | 2002-01-08 | 1998-03-10 | 1997-02-11 | 2002-09-03 | 1990-10-25 |
| Media | Audio CD | Audio CD | Audio CD | Audio CD | Audio CD | Audio CD |
| discs number | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Format | Enhanced, Import | Import | Import, Box set | - | - | - |
| Ean | 0794881478620 | 0794881649921 | 0794881416523 | 0028945300726 | 0696998770324 | 0028941551429 |
| Upc | 794881478620 | 794881649921 | 794881416523 | 028945300726 | 696998770324 | 028941551429 |
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