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Bach: Mendelssohn 1841 Leipzig Matthäus-Passion
Johann Sebastian Bach, Christoph Spering, Chorus Musicus Köln
Bach: Mendelssohn 1841 Leipzig Matthäus-Passion
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (24) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (31) - Disc #2

Felix Mendelssohn's celebrated 1829 revival of the St. Matthew Passion lives on in legend as the starting point of the rediscovery of Bach's music. Mendelssohn performed the work again in 1841 in Bach's own church in Leipz...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Johann Sebastian Bach, Christoph Spering, Chorus Musicus Köln, Das Neue Orchester, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Title: Bach: Mendelssohn 1841 Leipzig Matthäus-Passion
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Opus 111
Release Date: 4/11/2000
Album Type: Original recording reissued
Genre: Classical
Styles: Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Baroque (c.1600-1750), Sacred & Religious, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 709861020225

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Felix Mendelssohn's celebrated 1829 revival of the St. Matthew Passion lives on in legend as the starting point of the rediscovery of Bach's music. Mendelssohn performed the work again in 1841 in Bach's own church in Leipzig; the score and performing parts from that occasion have survived, so it's possible to revive Mendelssohn's revival fairly accurately. Conductor Christoph Spering, Chorus Musicus, and Das Neue Orchester (playing 19th-century period instruments) have done just that--with fascinating results. Mendelssohn felt that he was being as scrupulously faithful to Bach's original as possible, but the changes are numerous and striking: Clarinets are used in place of oboes d'amore and da caccia (which were obsolete by Mendelssohn's day); the continuo accompanying the Evangelist's recitative is played by two cellos and a double-bass; several of the Evangelist's higher passages are taken down an octave (so as to make the ones that remain high stand out all the more). More notably, several arias are omitted, including "Ich will dir mein Herze schenken," "Komm, süsses Kreuz," and "Sehet, Jesus hat die Hand"; several more, including "Mache dich, mein Herze, rein," are shortened; "Erbarme dich" is given to the soprano soloist rather than the alto. Mendelssohn felt these changes were necessary to make the St. Matthew effective for his audience; certainly he didn't do the wholesale reorchestration that, for example, Mozart did with Handel's Messiah, but Mendelssohn's St. Matthew Passion feels--especially in this fine performance--very different from the Bach we hear from such modern-day Baroque instrument specialists as the Bach Collegium Japan (let alone the single-voice camp). Vive la différence! --Matthew Westphal
 

CD Reviews

An Outstanding Alternative St. Matthew Passion
kek5 | Westerville, Ohio USA | 05/30/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those with an open mind about Bach and a love of the St. Matthew Passion comes a must-own version of Mendelssohn's 1841 version...a version with a difference, to put it mildly. To meet the requirements of his time (and audience) Mendelssohn made substantial, but well-judged, cuts of both arias and recitatives that lowers the performance time to just under 2 hours 15 minutes. And while there is an certain amount of re-orchestration, it is discreet and definately in furtherance of the storyline, with both drama and intimacy heightened at the appropriate points in the Passion. But enough about all that...if you're anything other than a fanatical purist, none of this will bother you once you actually hear this performance.Of the 13 versions of the St. Matthew Passion I own, this is by far the best engineered and recorded. The sound is simply stunning...rich, full-bodied and yet detailed and absolutely crystal-clear. Beyond that, this may be the best sung St. Matthew Passion I have ever heard. Each of the soloists is outstanding (which, given the quality of the sound, is fortunate). The choral work is not quite up to the standard of the soloist, but it too is quite good. Christoph Spering keeps things moving along quite well, and the instrumental playing is excellent.If you love this Passion, do NOT pass this version by."