Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Matthew Passion [2010 Recording] (2011)

The basic premise undergirding conductor Jos van Veldhoven's approach to Bach's St. Matthew Passion is his conviction that contrary to the standard practice of employing a double chorus and orchestra with the forces divided into two groups of the same size, the groups are not intended to be equal and balanced. He argues that the structure of the work, the disposition of solo parts, the varied musical styles, the content of the texts assigned to each group, and even the unequal degree of the musical difficulty of the parts ... Read More

The basic premise undergirding conductor Jos van Veldhoven's approach to Bach's St. Matthew Passion is his conviction that contrary to the standard practice of employing a double chorus and orchestra with the forces divided into two groups of the same size, the groups are not intended to be equal and balanced. He argues that the structure of the work, the disposition of solo parts, the varied musical styles, the content of the texts assigned to each group, and even the unequal degree of the musical difficulty of the parts suggest that the choral parts should be divided into asymmetrical groups, the first larger and the second smaller. The sonic disparity between a larger group and a smaller one works well in practice because generally in the sections where the two choruses sing together the groups either have dramatically contrasting roles or the vocal lines are simply doubled. Van Veldhoven's iconoclastic interpretation is bound to raise a flurry of debate, but the strengths of this performance make a... Read Less

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2011, Channel Classics UPC: 723385325116 SACD See All