Title: Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Matthew Passion (Matthäus-Passion), BWV 244
Released: 2010
Genre: Classical, Oratorio
Directed by: Peter Sellars, Daniel Finkernagel, Alexander Lück
Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle
Artist: Camilla Tilling (Soprano), Magdalena Kožená (Mezzo-Soprano), Topi Lehtipuu (Tenor, Arias), Mark Padmore (Tenor, Evangelist), Christian Gerhaher (Bass, Christ), Thomas Quasthoff (Bass, Arias), Rundfunkchor Berlin , Knaben des Staats- und Domchors Berlin

Description:

Sir Simon Rattle was in no doubt: the performance of the St Matthew Passion which he realised together with Berliner Philharmoniker and the Rundfunkchor Berlin in 2010 was for him "the single most important thing we ever did here". Critics around the world agreed. They praised the semi-staged "ritualization" by American star-director Peter Sellars, as well as the outstanding musical performances by the soloists, including Magdalena Kožená, Christian Gerhaher, Thomas Quasthoff and Mark Padmore as the Evangelist. Now the performance is published as a hardcover linen edition with a comprehensive booklet and a voucher for the Berliner Philharmoniker's Digital Concert Hall.

"The long rehearsal period, the expertise of everyone involved and the authority of the solo singers: all this quickly becomes evident ... this is a defiantly modern performance, one that exults in disturbance and the irony that arises from a deeply intimate staging within the round of the Berlin Philharmonie: appropriate in terms of architectural politics but jarringly opulent and public. "--Gramophone

"Some of Sellars's gestures ... are searing, and the rapt attention of the audience leaps out of the screen ... Padmore is a great Evangelist and this must be his greatest performance of the role ... while the symbiosis entwining vocal and instrumental soloists leavens Simon Rattle's compelling musical direction. Ultimately, a St Matthew Passion even greater than the sum of its parts - and they were already pretty awesome to begin with! "--BBC Music Magazine

Tracklist wrote
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
St Matthew Passion (Matthäus-Passion) BWV 244

Issued: United States | Berlin Phil Media GmbH
Duration: 3:14:36