Johann Sebastian Bach - St. John Passion (Masaaki Suzuki)

Information

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

CD1:

• (01-14) Johannespassion, BWV 245: Part I
• (15-24) Johannespassion, BWV 245: Part II (opening)

CD2:

• (01-16) Johannespassion, BWV 245: Part II (conclusion)
• (17-19) Anhang (Fassung II, 1925)

Ingrid Schmithüsen; Yoshikazu Mera
Gerd Türk; Makoto Sakurada; Yoshie Hida; Chiyuki Urano; Peter Kooij

Bach Collegium Japan
Masaaki Suzuki, conductor

Date: 1998
Label: BIS
http://bis.se/label/bis/st-john-passion

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Review

GRAMOPHONE EDITOR'S CHOIR

Bach seems to have performed his St John ­Passion on four Good Fridays during his tenure as Thomaskantor at Leipzig. However, he continued to make significant revisions right up to the last performance under his direction, on April 4, 1749. Of the four versions, the second, dating from 1725, contains the most ­distinctive revisions, the first version (1724) and the last bearing close affinity with one another. Masaaki Suzuki and his talented Bach Collegium Japan have chosen Bach’s latest ­version. All has evidently been carefully prepared and deeply considered: what’s refreshing about their approach is the importance afforded to the ­relationship between text and music, to the theological source of Bach’s inspiration, and the emotional impact of the story and music on its audience. Some of their thoughts may strike readers as simplistic, even perhaps a shade ­sentimental, but on the strength of this fervent performance we can hardly question their sincerity.

The role of the Evangelist is sung with clarity and lightness of inflection by Gerd Türk. His performance is eloquently ­measured, his phrasing well shaped and his articulation engagingly varied. All this makes him a riveting story-teller. The role of Jesus is taken by Chiyuki Urano, warm-toned and resonant. Ingrid Schmithüsen and Yoshikazu Mera make strongly appealing contributions and Peter Kooij is satisfying and affecting.

Excellent, too, are the contributions of the ­Collegium’s choir of women’s and men’s voices. Choral and instrumental articulation is incisive, propelling the rhythms with energy. The performance draws you in from the start. This is a major recording event, and an eminently ­satisfying one.

-- Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/May02/Bach_passions.htm
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Passion-Suzuki-Collegium-Japan/dp/B00000IMR7

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Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. Bach enriched established German styles through his mastery of counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from Italy and France. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, and vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach

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Masaaki Suzuki (born 29 April 1954 in Kobe) is an award-winning Japanese organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and musical director of the Bach Collegium Japan. With this ensemble he is recording the complete choral works of J. S. Bach for the Swedish label BIS Records, for which he is also recording Bach's concertos, orchestral suites, and solo works for harpsichord and organ. Suzuki has also recorded music of Mozart, Handel, Beethoven and many others. He is Artist-in residence at Yale University and director of its Schola Cantorum, and has conducted orchestras and choruses around the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaaki_Suzuki

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