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Bach, Johann Sebastian : Saint John Passion, BWV 245Album Summary
Bach, Johann Sebastian : Saint John Passion, BWV 245Notes & Reviews:
Considered to be an expressive and intimate oratorio, the St. John Passion was conceived by Bach both as a work of art and an act of worship in itself. Subtly balancing narration and meditation, it juxtaposes vivid reenactment in the arias with stretches of contemplative exposition in the chorales. Regardless of one's religious views, it captures the listener's attention from beginning to end. Recorded in Königslutter in 2003, this rendition of the work from Soli Deo Gloria features such internationally acclaimed soloists as Mark Padmore, Hanno Müller-Brachmann, Peter Harvey and Bernarda Fink. The booklet includes notes by Sir John Eliot Gardiner as well as the texts in German, English and French.
"Of Bach's two passion settings, it's the later St Matthew one that has historically scooped the lion’s share of performances and general praise. The St John Passion has often been viewed as the cruder older sibling. Those who would agree with that analysis should get hold of these two discs. John Eliot Gardiner argues that Bach himself considered his St John setting, the longest work in his career up to that point, to be supremely important. This recording should leave no-one in any doubt as to the works sheer beauty and power. Few ensembles can come to Bach's St John Passion with quite the degree of performance-based insight that Gardiner and his musicians have done...The result is a little slice of musical heaven. In sound, it's a masterpiece of technical precision and musical beauty. In tone, it perfectly balances the theatrical with the devotional. The English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir expertly build and release tension, their phrases shaped to sound natural, instinctive, and emotionally complete... All in all, an interpretation to savour." -BBC
"These performances, taped at the end of an English Baroque Soloists tour in 2006, exude a tremendous sense of common purpose and an un-dogmatic stylistic assurance...Gardiner gets the music to "speak" without ever sounding fussy. In short, he achieves that rare feat of revitalising the familiar." -Financial Times
Notes & Reviews:Recording information: Kaiserdom, Königslutter (03/22/2003).
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Works Details
Bach, Johann Sebastian : Saint John Passion, BWV 245 - Conductor: John Gardiner
- Running Time: 97 min. 52 sec.
- Period Time: Baroque
- Written: 04/07/1724
