Bach: St. Matthew Passion

When one finds the St. Matthew Passion being performed at St. Thomas, Bach’s church in Leipzig where it was composed and first presented in 1727 ... one must restrain one’s expectations and realize from the get-go, that this is the St. Thomas experience of today, not 300 years ago. It is not, and could never be a ‘recreation’ of the earlier event.Still it is an interesting mix. So we have mostly modern instruments; but we have a choir of men and boys, and no women other than in the orchestra, and the single soprano soloist. (In Bach’s time there would be no women in performance at all.) Here as well, the soprano soloist only takes the arias, none of the little miscellaneous ‘eine magd’ lines which are taken by various choirboys. (O, I take that back, she does sing the small part of Pilate’s wife. It would have been a boy in the 1720's, but that could be problematic today.)And I would submit, although I will probably be shot down, the level of overall musical mastery and ensemble here is far BEYOND what Bach could have ever created in that small town of 300 years ago, now a huge city in a huge country with a flourishing Bach tradition going back many decades.I also like that there seems to have been coordination in dress. The men are not in tuxes, rather mid 1960s-era suits with white shirt and dark tie. (Apparently the only one not getting the memo was the Evangelist, who showed up in an incongruous black shirt and red tie.)Overall, the recording is visually outstanding! I have no idea how they had enough cameras in such a small area to get so many good angles, and at the same time not showing each other in the wide shots. And no, I don’t think it was cobbled together creatively to hide those cameras. As far as I’m concerned it is a master class in how to visually record a major classical music event. It’s perfect—I can’t imagine it any better.Soundwise also, beyond reproach. It’s as good as a studio recording. It’s as if every soloist had his or her own mike, carefully tweaked—but not a mike in sight.OK, with all this going for it, why then the reduced rating? Well, frankly, it’s hard to sit thru and thoroughly enjoy for two reasons. First, too much of it is at a fast tempo, faster than either the music itself, or (especially) THE TEXT supports. They have drunk the Koolaid which demands the music be performed as quickly as the fingers can possibly hit the keys, or the consonants spit forth from the lips. OK sure, it is not the fastest St. Matthew Passion I have ever heard, but so what? It's still too fast.Consider the words: “Come ye daughters, help me cry ... Thou sinless Lamb of God, who art stricken upon the cross” etc. Forget that you've ever heard Gardiner, and tell me if in selecting a tempo, sensibly, you need to consult what the proper dance tempo of that particular form should be? Really?Several other arias, very early on, are way off-base tempo-wise. For example, ‘Blute nur du liebes Herz’ (Bleed now, thou beloved heart)--ridiculously fast. You can’t tell me Bach, who regularly meditated on the joy of death, would want these introspective arias done that fast. Then we get to an aria which SHOULD be done fast, for example, ‘Ich will dir mein Herze schenken’ ... and sure enough, it is fast. Too fast. But not that much contrast with the introspective arias.The other reason for the lowered rating is one of the main singers and I just don’t care for him. That is the Evangelist. I don’t like to say anything bad about a professional, but yes he is actually the main character. the titular character, St. Matthew, in a piece entitled the St. Matthew Passion. Never minding that, he also has the most performance time. And I suppose if I went to a piece entitled Hamlet, and I didn’t like the lead's Hamlet, I have the right to respectfully say so without going into detail (especially if I let go 30 bucks to get in). So I will leave it at that.All the other soloists are excellent! My Lord, what presence the Jesus here has! Pun intended! And I absolutely love the soprano soloist, although she has to work with unusually fast tempos, she dispatches them beautifully. The male alto also to die for. The tenor aria soloist also, outstanding. Notice his breath support. (I wish he would have been Evangelist.) And the bass aria soloist, Gotthold Schwarz, who has since become the newest Cantor of St. Thomas, direct successor to Johann Sebastian Bach. (I guess I will never have that particular position ... darnit.)The choir and orchestra also, beyond reproach. The minor soloists also, members of the choir, who I assume are current students at St. Thomas, also very good.So I hate to disrecommend this release when it obviously has so much going for it. Therefore, I do not disrecommend it. Only for my ultimate St. Matthew experience I will return to any of Karl Richter's three offerings, that of  1958 , 1979 , or his  video .

This disc combines technical excellence of recording with quality of performance and interpretation. The DTS HD sound is expemplary - balance of choir and orchestra is spot on and soloists well placed in the soundstage.The soloists are all excellent - including the alto Kahle who is a revelation.I was left with the impression that Biller, choir and orchestra are serving the music and in so doing the performance becomes larger and deeper than merely a well rehearsed set of musicians running through a work. Their approach adds another dimension to the music, perhaps one that an agnostic like myself might call spiritual, larger than the sum of it's parts.I think Bach would have been overjoyed to witness this performance. Well worth the ticket price and heartily recommended.

The St. Mathew Passion by J.S. Bach could easily rank as one of the most awesome works of music ever written--2 hours and 40 minutes of great music by not 1 but 2 orchestras and chorus creating quite a spectacle. The new BluRay DVD by the St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig, an 800 year old institution that Bach himself graduated from, is both daring and eloquent and yet very true to the style of the period. One bold departure from the traditional voicing of the work is the performance of Stefan Kahle, a male alto singing a part traditionally sung by a woman. A highly disciplined performer, Kahle renders every solo with an eloquence and beauty I have never heard in any previous performances. This is especially true in the exquisite duo for violin and alto: Erbarme dich, mein gott. Backed by a superb violinist, this aria is breathtaking. I highly recommend this.

Good sound quality on a masterful piece of music. Performed well. Tremendous location. Wish they would have hired the right director and camera crew to make the visual presentation more interesting to watch. But then again, maybe there aren't enough classical music buffs to purchase something like this to make cranes, hand-held gimbals and better lighting cost effective... who knows, but look into it next time, please. (Check out Andre Bocelli's Blu-ray in Tuscany as a visual standard.) Buy this Blu-ray because it's great music to have in your library and the efforts to get this recorded deserve support.

I enjoy listening to CDs, but watching a performance just adds a layer of depth to it, especially with choirs. It was fun to see the different sections of the boys choir, along with the even younger boys high up in the balcony for the opening. Then to see all of the different soloists and musicians - fantastic!

In all fairness, I need to correct the earlier review. This is NOT the only recording on blu-ray. I already own the Peter Sellers production from Berlin, conducted by Simon Rattle. And no - you don't have to pay $333. Just shop around with some other internet retailers like Presto Classical. It's available in both DVD and Blu-Ray, just make sure to order the NTSC version (not PAL). I don't want to take attention away from this Leipzig Recording , which is probably also great (in fact, I ordered a copy for myself) - but it's NOT the only option on blu-ray. And the Sellers/Rattle production is a real gem in its own right - very innovative and moving.

This is THE only blu-ray of St. Matthew Passion in the U.S. market. So I took a chance to purchase without waiting for its review on major music magazines such as BBC Music or Gramophone. The image is sharp of course. But it is also well played and sung without making a fuss of comparing it to the die hard reference audio recordings such as Richter, etc., I have those. But life moves on that I need new experience in sight and sound if the performances are still strong enough.That said, I enjoy this blu-ray expecting repeated watching and listening.

Très bonne définition de l'image et un son au top. Pour mieux écouter, il faudrait être dans l'église de Leipzig au moment de l'enregistrement : mais je n'en suis pas sur. Un Must Have !

„… Mein Leipzig lob’ ich mir!Es ist ein klein Paris, und bildet seine Leute.“so lässt altvater Goethe den studenten Frosch in Auerbachs Keller sagen.möglicherweise kannte Goethe den „Thomanerchor“, der zur zeit, da er seinen „Faust“ schrieb schon 500 jahre existierte.die „Matthäus – Passion“ war auch schon komponiert. ob unser dichterfürst diese Bach'sche komposition - von den „Thomanern“ gesungen kannte - glaube ich eher nicht … das lob Leipzigs wäre sicher weitaus leidenschaftlicher ausgefallen.ganz sicher aber kannte er nicht die neue aufnahme aus der Leipziger Thomaskirche von 2012, die mich gestern abend für etwa 2 1/2 ' stunden lahm legte und faszinierte.drei wirkliche Leipziger juwelen sind sein fundament :der unvergleichliche Thomanerchor,das in seinem klang von Kurt Masur stark geprägte „Gewandhausorchester Leipzig“und der unweit von Leipzig geborene Thomaskantor Georg Christoph Biller.die solisten sind nicht aus der ganzen welt zusammengekaufte stars; es sind sänger, die so in einer beliebigen aufführung in Leipzig zu hören sein könnten, und die kleinen partien werden von chormitgliedern gesungen.man schenkt uns mit dieser einspielung ein gutes stück „Leipziger Genuss“ … ,ein genuss, der seine absolute krönung durch den glockenrein singenden und sauberst artikulierenden chor erfährt. G. C. Biller muss seine „Buben“ lieben; nur so, glaube ich, kann er sie zu dieser souveränen meisterschaft, und diesem einzigartigen klang führen. er lässt den chor in unvergleichlicher manier mit dem typischen hall der Thomaskirche spielen, dass einem bei den chorälen ein schauer nach dem anderen den rücken herunterläuft. er exponiert den chor wie einen meisterlichen brillanten, der von den übrigen musikanten gekonnt eingefasst wird.dass die blu – ray aufnahme einen high definition mehrkanal klang bietet, der dich auch akustisch unmittelbar in die Thomaskirche entführt, muss ich sicher nicht erwähnen.hier kann, wer lust verspürt, in der gesamten aufnahme „herumschnüffeln“. eine gute tonanlage wäre von ungeheuerem vorteil … ;-)[...][...]

Ecouter et voir l'interprétation de la Passion dans l'Eglise où Bach l'a dirigée est très gratifiant. Le chœur de St. Thomas existait à l'époque de Bach et a gardé ses exigences en terme de chanteurs, garçons entre 9 et 19 ans. La direction d'orchestre et des chœurs est à l'Allemande, sobre et précise.Pas d'applaudissements à la fin de l'œuvre pour garder l'émotion.

カール・リヒターのDVDを何度も聞いてきたので、それに比べると、オケも合唱も人数が少ないので音に厚みがないが、聖トーマス教会のパイプオルガンの前に陣取ったオケと少年合唱団と、ソプラノの代わりのカウンターテナー によるコンサートの模様が収録されており、教会の内部の様子も映し出され、これはこれで、楽しめる。マタイのベストの演奏かと聞かれると、自信持ってすすめることはできないが、２つ目のコレクションには良いと思う。　日本語字幕はないが、ドイツ語の字幕があるので、いずれマタイを歌いと思っている人には便利である。

I really like this great Passion and I do not abhor barroque music played on modern instruments, so I'm enjoying this blu-ray a lot.The boys choir (the Thomanerchor Leipzig) is not perfect technically speaking (I think few boys choirs are perfect), but this choir has some kind of magic for me and I can't forget that J.S.Bach was its Kantor when he wrote this great Passion (and probably this Passion was first performed in the church where this recording has been made, the Thomaskirche in Leipzig).The vocal soloists are really nice, specially the wonderful bass-baritone Klaus Mertens (who did an incredible work recording the complete Bach Cantatas with Ton Koopman), singing here as Jesus. The countertenor (Stefan Kahle) does a great work too. He's very young and I think he has a great potential.The conductor is Georg Christoph Biller (who is the Thomaskantor at present). I think he does a nice work, though some tempi are too fast for me.Both audio and video are superb.Please excuse my English, English is not my mother tongue.