Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Hans-Joachim Rotzsch, Gewandhaus Orchestra :: Bach: Johannes-Passion

Bach from the soul.

01/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One person gave this recording three stars without having listened to it, and another person gave it two stars with no indication whether he'd listened to it. Let me start out by saying that I've listened to it many times, and I'm drawn more deeply into it with each successive hearing. I find the emotional depth and sensitivity of the performance to be overwhelming. There is a feeling of profound conviction and of commitment here that I look for in vain in all but one of the other recordings I'm aware of. And the evangelist (Peter Schreier) brings unsurpassable artistry and nuance to his role. The interpretation has a sense of being "right" and of communicating precisely and fully what the composer wanted to say. The choral parts in this performance are sung by the Thomanerchor (boys choir) which sang them when Bach conducted (not the same boys, but a continuing tradition). The conductor Rotzsch made the sensible choice of using women for the soprano and alto solos, and he found great singers for them. Those parts were presumably sung by young boys in Bach's time, since women were not allowed to sing in church; but Bach had female singers in his secular cantatas, so it seems not unreasonable that he would have done so in church had that been permitted. In any event, the male falsetto voices in some of the modern performances come across to me as making a mockery of the role; they are simply false in feeling. The only other recording I know of in a class with this one is the one made in 1954 (twenty two years earlier), by Guenther Ramin, also with the Thomanerchor, with Ernst Haefliger as evangelist. That is an equally marvelous interpretation to be treasured; I personally own both recordings and react to them with equal fervor. The Ramin version was also reissued on CD, and still appears in the Amazon catalogue, however it is currently listed as being "out of stock".If you want a truly great performance of the Johannes Passion, that springs out of the social and religious heritage of the music and will excite you with its profound sense for the drama in the events and in the music, then grab the Rotzsch version while it's still to be had! It's far above any current competition I know about."

One of the best records

Christian Wilde | 03/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This record is a wonderful combination of great music and original backround. The world famous St. Thomas Qoir and Gewandhaus Orchestra from the original working city of Bach - Leipzig - present this incredibly deep and wonderful music in a way not many artists are can do. This record reveals the possibilities you can get out of Bach's music."