Search - Bach J.S, Werner, Giebel :: Bach J.S: Passions / Christmas Oratorio / Motets

Bach for those not in a hurry

Johannes Climacus | Beverly, Massachusetts | 08/31/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This set provides an invaluable rejoinder to the current wisdom that faster and lighter is always better in Bach. Werner's meditative traversal of this repertoire is ideal for listeners who are not in a hurry. As with Werner's Bach Cantata recordings, the solo singing is outstanding; the choral singing dedicated, though uneven. The best performance in the box is probably the *St Matthew*. Under Werner's direction the drama unfolds with a sense of serene inevitability. Serenity may not be everyone's idea of what Bach had in mind, but it's at least one important dimension of the work--and one that tends to get lost in the shuffle of period performance practice. Krebs is a superb evangelist--almost, but not quite, the equal of Hughes Cuenod on the devastating Scherchen recording (briefly reissued on CD in the UK but never available here). Werner's St. John Passion--always one of the best renditions of this work from the early-LP era (some listeners will remember its incarnation on MHS)--shares similar virtues; once again Krebs proves a stalwart evangelist, though Kelch is a somewhat geriatric-sounding Jesus. The other soloists have pleasing voices and acquit themselves admirably, as does the chorus in the challenging turbae of Part II. This may not be the most dramatically intense St. John available, but it is eminently satisfying for its structural cogency and spiritual depth. The Christmas Oratorio also fares well (despite artificially spotlit, and overbearing, trumpets). It was a great idea to include the Motets (well performed, with ample instrumental reinforcements) as well as the orphan funeral cantata BWV 118. The B Minor Mass exhibits many of the same virtues as the other works featured here (Werner was nothing if not consistent), though the woolly monaural sound and hit-or-miss trumpet playing (more miss than hit, actually) are distracting. Overall, a generous and worthwhile collection.



NOTE: This worthwhile collection (and reminder of Fritz Werner's considerable talents as a Bach interpreter) is still available from various websites abroad (including Amazon-uk and Presto Classical), and still at remarkably low prices. Seek and you will find."

The power and glory of tradition

Michael Berger | Atlanta, Ga | 01/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Werner's style is what 40 years ago would have been called traditional: lyric, meditative, slower than "period" recordings - more like Karl Richter and Fritz Lehmann than John Eliot Gardner or Paul McCreesh. With the exception of Agnes Giebel and Helmut Krebs, the soloists are not that well-known and they are not as individually interesting as, for example, Fischer-Diskau, Janet Baker, etc., but they are, in generally fine. The performances hold together: they share a sense that the text matters, that Bach was writing about important spiritual issues, and that his music is a loving openness to God in all his/her glory, wonder, awe, inexplicability and terror. The sound, for its age, is fine."