Search - Gothart Stier, Siegfried Lorenz, Heinrich Schutz :: Schütz: St. Matthew Passion

An a capella masterpiece from a Desden master, brilliantly p

Y.P. | Mount Messiaen, Utah | 09/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Heinrich Schütz (1585--1672) was a Dresden based composer and organist, and in my view, one of the most important German composers before J. S. Bach.



For those who are familiar with the piece, this performance from 1973 is self-recommending. Dresden Kreuzchor directed by Martin Flämig has the piece in their bones. The soloists, led by Peter Schreier's Evangelist, are of uniformly high caliber. The recorded sound is also great. (I bought this disc in Japanese edition (in Japan) more than 15 years ago, before this American edition appeared many years later.)



For the uninitiated, this piece could be one of the best introduction to the music of Schütz. Schütz went to Venice from 1609-1613 to study music with Giovanni Gabrieli, who left a strong influence on Schütz's style. Other influences came from Monteverdi and Netherland school. If you like vocal music of this era, but are never exposed to Schütz's music, you are missing a lot!



Finally, if you like this disc, you might be interested to know that Brilliant Classics is publishing "Schütz Edition" at a budget price, with excellent historically informed performances. It's interesting to compare this CD with Volume III of Schütz Edition Schütz: Passions; Resurrection History; Dialogues [Box Set].



Highly recommended."