Bach's Passions

Discussion in 'Classical Music' started by Rodrigo de Sá, Jun 19, 2003.

  1. Rodrigo de Sá

    Rodrigo de Sá This club's crushing bore

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    Passion Musik - JS Bach

    I'll center this around JSBach and the St. Mathew Passion, which is perhaps appropriate, and will skip the history of Passion works.

    The main question to bear in mind ir that the form of the Passions of Bach is a very complex one. The initial element is just the telling of the Passion: the evangelist, Jesus, Pilate, Peter (recitatives) and the polyphonic 'turbae' (the high priest and the scribes, the people) effects. That is the true core of the passion, and its chief structural entity.

    The second element is the Chorales. They appear at important points in the narrative as a way of making the listener reflect on what is going on. They are based in very old tunes and are usually introspective, intense pieces of music.

    With Bach there is a fourth element: the arioso and arias, which further comment and elaborate the feelings of the listener, but in a very different style from the chorales.

    All these elements are difficult to put together. The purest form is the recitative/polyphony of the telling of the Passion. Schütz has some very impressive examples of this. You must follow the text to understand the way the music expresses the meaning, because the most important element is the text itself: music just underlines it. This is archaic music, very stern, very austere, but also extraordinarily moving.

    The chorales appear at certain places where it is important to bring the audience to an introspective appraisal of the story: they are a kind of meditation on the Passion itself, and work very well with this archaic structure.

    The arioso-aria is another story. The arioso itself is a kind of transition between the recitative and the aria, but the arias themselves are very different from the rest. It is true that they express the feelings of the passion and the chorales, but it is also very easy that they get to much prominence. If that happens you will surely get a conflict between the sternness of the Passion proper and the lighter mood of the arias themselves. This is because the aria is an altogether different element, and the da capo introduces a very different tone from the narrative one.

    In consequence, it is very difficult to integrate the recitative/turbae/chorale units with the arias without totally unbalancing the work. If the arias are very important (and they are bound to be, since they are very beautiful) the telling of the Passion seems just a pretext for the arias. If the telling of the Passion gets all the attention, the arias appear as silly and frivolous afterthoughts.

    This is most noticeable in the Great Passion: St. Johns has fewer arias and the story of the Passion is a stronger element.

    Now, with the St. Mathew, Bach seems to have tried to combine the three elements: the biblical text, the chorales and the arias represent stand respectively for 'what happened', its' theological significance' and its 'human significance'.

    Now this makes sense but it is extremely difficult to translate into practice. Let's see how the conductors solve this problem.

    In music terms, the most important thing to have is a good evangelist. Remember, he is supposed to tell what happened, and convey all the actual drama. The best possible one was Ernst Haefliger. He recorded both the Passions twice, with Richter and Jochum. Both conductors tried to unite the arias and the biblical text, but they do it in very different ways.

    Richter's is an extremely passionate version: every area, every recitative, every chorale is important and is given its maximum importance. The result is a version of such density it may be hard to listen to. When you begin to listen to it, you are entering a supremely tense, emotionally highly strung ceremony. I won't try to describe it. You must listen and make up your own mind. Haefliger is sublime, unequaled.

    Jochum's version is also centered around Haefliger, but I personally don't like the tactus of the conductor - I can't find myself in that agogic - , so I feel biased against it. Even so, he manages to get the elements together rather well, very emotionally and he has the Concertgebow as a very strong argument.

    Another important evangelist is Kurt Equiluz. He recorded the St. Mathew with Harnoncourt. This version is very different from the two above mentioned. It is not very well sung (the sopranos are choirboys, but really good) and the recording is rather bad. Even so, I think he manages to integrate all the elements in the best possible form. This is because the main tactus of the work is given by the rhythmic and agogic spirit of the recitatives. Therefore the arias integrate extremely well with the rest of the elements, even if they are slightly sacrificed. Even if I actually prefer the intensity of Richter, this is probably the best version in terms of architecture.

    Gardiner took the bull by the horns and said it was difficult to approach the work precisely because of the discordant elements. He tried to chop the work into 'tables' - unified groupings of narrative, choral commentary and arias. Intellectually it is very interesting, but the result is, to my mind, too theatrical and not sufficiently interiorized. Rolffe-Johnson is a good Evangelist, but he can't approach Haefliger or Equiluz.

    Leonhardt's version is, on the contrary, aimed at the interior message. He has a very good evangelist (Pregardien), vibrant and intense even if restrained and not tragic enough. It is this lack of tragedy I find disturbing: I find the version slightly dull - the St. Mathew is a more emotional score than that; the turbae effects are particularly disappointing - and I can't stand René Jacobs's contralto voice.

    These are, to my mind, the chief contenders. There are many other versions. I either don't know them or don't like them.

    This was mainly on the St. Mathew. The St. John is a different story and a different thread, perhaps.
     
    Rodrigo de Sá, Jun 19, 2003
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  2. Rodrigo de Sá

    GrahamN

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    Interesting (since they seem to disagree so much on harpsichord music) that Jonathan Freeman-Attwood mostly agrees with RdS in a fairly substantial review of 63 ( :eek: ) different versions of the St Matt in this months (April :rolleyes: ) issue of Gramophone - he clearly knows what's good for him ;) .

    So he doesn't really have an all-out winner, agreeing with Bernstein that "the wonders of this work are infinite [or at least it seems like that's how long it lasts :D ]. Nobody knows them all....". His top versions are Harnoncourt's (although he prefer's his 2002 recording with Pergardien and Goerne), Richter's first (1958, Haefliger and Fischer-Diesaku), Eugen Jochum (1965, with Haefliger again) and Fritz Werner (1958, with Helmut Krebs, who he thinks is even better than Haefliger). Other honourable mentions go to Koopman and Suzuki of the period bunch, and he also seems very taken with Karajan's first version (1950, with Walther Ludwig, and Ferrier amongst others)

    Leonhardt does get a goodish review, although his "spritual austerity" could be a sysnonym for "dull"? Gardiner gets commended for "vice-like grip" on "theatrical gesture and the overall emotional climate", but "too little is left to the spirit". Rilling's recordings seem to get pretty much the same treatment.

    His general take on the period vs mainstrem debate is that the period bunch mostly concerntrate on the "performance possibilities which irradiate the music...and yet too little about the human condition...".
     
    GrahamN, Mar 10, 2004
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  3. Rodrigo de Sá

    Rodrigo de Sá This club's crushing bore

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    Hi, Graham

    Thanks for the tip. I'll order the 'April' issue.
     
    Rodrigo de Sá, Mar 10, 2004
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  4. Rodrigo de Sá

    ross

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    I own 5 or 6 versions of the St Matthew Passion, and have heard quite a few others. My personal preference is the Herreweghe version. I also like the Klemperer version a great deal, although it is about as far from "authentic" as you can get. Richter's 1958 version is also a favourite, and much better than his later version.

    Ross
     
    ross, Mar 12, 2004
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  5. Rodrigo de Sá

    Rodrigo de Sá This club's crushing bore

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    Hi, Ross, welcome to Zero Gain.

    I'm not too familiar with Herreweghe's version. I listened to a bit of it, but it did not strike me as marvelous; it seemed somewhat downtoned. But I may be quite mistaken.

    Klemperer's was always a favorite of mine. Of course one has to take the afternoon off to listen to it, but I quite agree it is a masterpiece. I don't know how he manages that tension playing only the written notes. One would say there is nothing in it but the written music, and yet that is not so.

    At Naim's there was a very interesting post comparing Klemperer to Walcha. In both cases it seems you just get the notes. But the interpretations are superlative.

    I have no time right now to listen to Klemperer's version - and anyway, I could never pinpoint the variables that make me like it. But could you elaborate a bit?
     
    Rodrigo de Sá, Mar 12, 2004
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  6. Rodrigo de Sá

    GrahamN

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    ...and it looks like I never will (despite rather liking Klemperer), as I would prefer the Evangelist to be sung by a human rather than a strangled mallard :JOEL:
     
    GrahamN, Mar 12, 2004
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  7. Rodrigo de Sá

    ross

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    I don't think it's a question of being "mistaken", since these things are largely a matter of taste. For example, I can't listen to the highly-regarded Gardiner version, because it sounds too clinical and dispassionate for my tastes. His Passion is a rigid Church of England version, compared to, say, Herreweghe or Harnoncourt who allow the beauty and emotion of the music to shape it the interpretation, while Gardiner (in my opinion) does not. Herreweghe's latest version to my ears strikes the balance between beauty in terms of music and singing, structural vision without rigidity, perfect tempi and (last and least) a very fine recorded sound. Again, a matter of personal taste.

    Perhaps because it is so far from "authentic" - it is slow (as far as I know, the slowest on record), but it has a kind of intensity that no other version manages to achieve. Klemperer was always a genius at building tension in a long, slow architectural way, as if adding building block to building block, slowly, until the whole edifice is visible, and carrying you along with every step of the process. For example, the first time you hear his Beethoven or Bruckner you generally wonder what all the fuss is about - it sounds slow, plodding, simplistic - but after a couple of listens you begin to appreciate it, the way Klemperer preserves the pulse of the music over long time spans, and the way it builds as tension is created gradually and then released. I think that is the key to his Matthew Passion, the way he sees it almost as a symphonic work, with a strong structural vision of the music, helped by some wonderful singers - strangled mallard notwithstanding.

    Ross
     
    ross, Mar 12, 2004
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  8. Rodrigo de Sá

    Rodrigo de Sá This club's crushing bore

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    Hi, Ross:

    I think you may have a point - with Beethoven, Bruckner or Brahms I agree with what you say about Klemperer. But the Great Passion is built in quite another mould. So one would think that kind of approach would not work.

    But perhaps you are right. When I listen to Klemperer's Passion I never concentrate on its structure (that is to say, what I think is its structure, as I mentioned in the opening post). That is why I can stand the strangled mallard :) - the evengelist is not very important as all the elements, recitativo, arias, chorales, turbae, all melt into a single flow of music.

    So you may be right. I'll try to find the time to listen to a bit of it (let's say the ending). If I can I'll report later. But I think you may have a very good point.
     
    Rodrigo de Sá, Mar 13, 2004
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  9. Rodrigo de Sá

    Rodrigo de Sá This club's crushing bore

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    No, I intended 'mistaken' in the sense that I have not listened to it attentively.

    I also think you are being a bit harsh on JE Gardiner. I don't think it is clkinical -there are loads of emotion. Just not religious emotion (IMO, of course). It seems like an opera rather than a Passion. (I wish the operas were this good! - I'm excluding Wagner, here).

    By the way, that kind of extroverted and expressive approach works very well with the St. John - Gardiner's version being one of my favourites. But the great Passion (this is the way Bach and his family referred to the St. Matthew) is quite another thing.

    It would be nice to read the views of members on the difference between them.
     
    Rodrigo de Sá, Mar 13, 2004
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  10. Rodrigo de Sá

    djc

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    Bach-Mendelssohn

    I thought it worth resurrecting this thread as Saturday's concert at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall was rather different and a bit special. It was a recreation of the famous event in 1829 when Mendelssohn conducted the first performance of the St Matthew Passion for nearly one hundred years. The Bach renaissance started with this event. In the early nineteenth century much of Bach's music was unknown, so when the fifteen-year-old Mendelssohn asked his grandmother for a score of the Passion for his birthday (as your typical fifteen year-old does), one had to be copied from the original score. Cost in present-day terms: around £25 000. Mendelssohn's family were not short of cash.

    The teenage Mendelssohn rehearsed the work at home, decided that a concert performance was in order and managed to persuade several notable soloists from the Berlin opera to help him out. The original score, being the largest single work of music before the Wagner operas, was deemed unperformable so “a few judicious cutsâ€Â, as sister Fanny put it, were made. This amounted to over one hour of music. There was a certain amount of rescoring with obsolete instruments such as oboe d'amore replaced by clarinet and the chamber organ continuo by Fortepiano. Last night's concert was the first time the Mendelssohn edition had been performed professionally in the UK. Almost inevitably, Roger Norrington was the perpetrator.

    The large choir were arranged in two halves facing each other, in front of the orchestra and soloists, with Norrington in the middle on a rather unauthentic swivel chair rotating one way and another. So how did it sound? Although the strings were familiar, the rest of the orchestra had a much more homogenous tone compared to astringent baroque winds. The biggest change in sound texture was in the addition of the Fortepiano. This sometimes made for some unusual musical associations: the famous aria Erbarme dich, with a plucked bass and piano accompaniment, now had more than a hint of a smoky Jazz club about it. Jacques Loussier perhaps? The clarinets made other sections reminiscent of Kurt Weil.

    The editing of many of the arias and half the chorales changed the balance of the piece from contemplative to narrative. Almost all the recitative remained (James Gilchrist's Evangelist, the pick of the soloists) so the story moved along at pace, especially in the second half. There was little mourning and sorrow after Jesus' death or reflection on the event. The remaining choruses were mostly scenes where the crowd are going after Jesus, the large choir made the sense of the baying mob all the more vivid. The loss of many of the chorales where the crowd, us, are with Jesus was somewhat alienating. Not then, a Matthauspassion for regular listening but a fascinating evening.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 7, 2005
    djc, Feb 7, 2005
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  11. Rodrigo de Sá

    Marc

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    Old threads, old friends (Bookends theme ;)).

    Today I purchased and listened to a recently launched DVD of Bach's Johannes-Passion, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Graz Cathedral, Austria, 1985).
    I decided to buy this one mainly because of the Evangelist, Kurt Equiluz. I cherish some spectacular memories of his impressive recitativo singing, especially in my studying period, when I had the chance to listen to him 'live' several times in Bach's choral works.

    Wow! This man was/is great. It's also very impressive to watch him, he brings his part with great authority. He looks absolutely inexorable, but at the same time he's able to sing with great empathy.

    It's also fascinating to watch Harnoncourt, he might not be the world's most enjoyable conductor to watch, but look at him working with his eyes. The Concentus Musicus Wien and the Tölzer Knabenchor are responding very well. Four of the Tölzer boys perform in the solo arias. The two boy sopranos (who are acceptable) and both the boy altos (who are - IMHO - fantastic, very moving!) really seem to know what this man expects from them.
    Tenor Thomas Moser and bass Robert Holl (Jesus) are also much to my liking (although normally I prefer a less heavy bass singer in Bach; Holl seems to be more suited in a Wagner opera). The bass Anton Scharinger is quite good in his recitatives (Peter, Pilate), but I do not like his aria singing. Especially when tenderness is required ("Betrachte, meine Seel'...") he's singing far too heavy, uncertain, strained .... in brief: below standard, IMO.

    Nevertheless: I'm very happy with this purchase! I've always admired Equiluz as a recitativo singer, but again I was confronted with the fact that he was even more impressive when singing 'live' in audience. I remember once, when I was attending a performance in the church (must have been more than 20 years ago) when he was singing .... welche heißet auf ebräisch .... Go-ol-gatha-a!!, a young woman left the church in a state of total anguish. A bit exaggerated maybe, but at that very moment I myself was shivering down my spine, too.

    Recommended!
     
    Marc, Jun 13, 2007
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  12. Rodrigo de Sá

    sunnyside_up

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    Thanks for this recommendation, Marc. I've been eyeing this DVD off and now I am sorely tempted.:D

    My favourite version of the SMP is Herreweghe's second recording, although I only know this one, Cleobury and Gardiner. In fact I was very disappointed with the Gardiner - he is normally so theatrical and I found his SMP quite understated (e.g. in the alto/soprano/chorus "So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen"... This aria is fantastic in the Herreweghe version and the bit where the chorus comes in always makes me jump, even when I'm expecting it - whereas in Gardiner the chorus is somewhat subdued). Also the soloists are mostly far superior in Herreweghe, in my opinion. I love Ian Bostridge as the Evangelist (and of course Andreas Scholl, the best singer ever in the history of the universe).

    Conversely, I was a little disappointed with Herreweghe's SJP and prefer the Cleobury. I missed the opening chorus "Herr, unser Herrscher", since Herreweghe recorded a different version. I don't know this work as well as the SMP though, and it warrants a lot more listening on my part.

    I also have Koopman's St Mark Passion DVD on order, out of great curiosity. This is a reconstruction, as the music has been lost, and I understand it parodies BWV54 and the Trauer Ode (BWV 198). I will report back later when I have had a chance to digest it and find out a bit more. I ordered it because I admire Koopman and many of the soloists including Peter Kooy, Deborah York, Christoph Pregardien, Paul Agnew and Klaus Mertens - eagerly anticipating its arrival!

    Happy listening to all from sunnyside_up, currently in Cantata Heaven:D :D :D
     
    sunnyside_up, Jun 14, 2007
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  13. Rodrigo de Sá

    Marc

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    I surely know that feeling. :D

    About Herreweghe's SJP: you are referring to his second attempt, when he recorded the 1725-version of this work. If you want to hear Herreweghe in the 'normal' version, AFAIK this one is still available. He already recorded it in the eighties, with Howard Crook as the Evangelist, and Barbara Schlick in the soprano arias. Other soloists are Peter Lika (Jesus), Cathérine Patriasz (alto), William Kendall (tenor) and Peter Kooy (bass). Check the internet or your own music shop to find a sample (I think it has been re-issued at mid-price some years ago). It's a rather contemplative approach, with tempi not too fast, and although I prefer a more dramatic performance (like Gardiner and Harnoncourt II), it works for me. I also have a weak spot for the slow HIP-version of Sigiswald Kuijken, which I find very expressive.

    About the SMP: I agree absolutely with your opinion about Gardiner. I was very enthousiastic about his SJP, but the SMP was a disappointment to me. The tempi are fast, sometimes too hasty ("Ich will dir mein Herze schenken") and I share your experience with that magnificent duet "So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen": much too superficial. And, alas, "superficial" is the only word that comes to my mind when I had to summarize Gardiner's SMP.
    When Herreweghe is concerned: I think his first approach is more significant, compared to his second. I must admit that I don't like Bostridge as Evangelist: he's far too hysterical to me. My favourite Evangelists are Kurt Equiluz and Christoph Prégardien. But of course this is all a matter of personal taste. If you like Bostridge: good for you!

    My own favourite SJP?
    My own favourite SMP?
    I wouldn't dare to say.
    ;)

    Maybe they have never been recorded.

    Right now I feel this way:
    for the SJP I would recommend Gardiner and Kuijken.
    For the SMP: My preferences are Leonhardt, Harnoncourt (his second studio recording, with a.o. Prégardien as Evangelist) and Hermann Max (with Das Kleine Konzert). The latter was a big surprise to me. Although the tempi are fast (the whole piece fits on 2 CD's), the pace is never hasty. And this recording really has got an outstanding perfomance of "Erbarme dich", IMHO superbly uncomplicated sung by Lena Susanne Norin.

    If it's the same reconstruction as in Koopman's studio recording on CD, you won't hear much of the Trauer Ode. Koopman chose a totally different way to reconstruct this work, with other cantates, without claiming to be historically right. (And it wouldn't surprise me if he's historically wrong :D.)
    For a Trauer Ode-reconstruction, I would recommend Roy Goodman, with the Ring Ensemble of Finland. If I'm not mistaken, it's a reconstruction made by Simon Heighes, and Bach's notes are combined with a St. Mark Passion by Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739).

    Happy listening, anyway!
     
    Marc, Jun 14, 2007
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  14. Rodrigo de Sá

    Marc

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    I was making some positive remarks about Hermann Max' reading of the SMP. Here are some words of praise about his readings of the SJP. :)
    He recorded the 1749 version of the SJP around 1990, and this is - like his SMP - a very brisk, rhytmical and unaffected recording, with good soloists (again Prégardien is a fine Evangelist).
    Last spring, another reading of the SJP by Hermann Max was issued. It's the arrangment that Robert Schumann made in 1851 of this great work. A more romantic reading in a rather spatial recording (on a hybrid SACD). It's very interesting to listen to this, just like Christoph Spering's reading of Mendelssohn's arrangment of the SMP.

    Have a nice Sunday!

    Greetings,

    Marc.
     
    Marc, Jun 24, 2007
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  15. Rodrigo de Sá

    sunnyside_up

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    I've just ordered both the SMP and SJP (1749) by Max. I was going to get Herreweghe's other SJP but was put off by Barbara Schlick and turned on by Prégardien !!

    Speaking of Prégardien, my Koopman St Mark DVD arrived the other day and I love the performances. The soloists are excellent and the choir is spirited and wonderful. Koopman has cherry picked a lot of my favourites from the cantata repertoire (particularly the alto/soprano duet from Cantata 4, in which Deborah York shines), but from what I understand Koopman wrote the recitatives himself. So it's not totally Bach, but very enjoyable on its own merits, even if it doesn't seem to hang together perfectly like the other Passions.

    You have a good Sunday too, mine is almost over and I'm off to beddy byes.:)
     
    sunnyside_up, Jun 24, 2007
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  16. Rodrigo de Sá

    Marc

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    You Australians always want to be ahead of things! ;)

    I think Koopman's DVD uses the same reconstruction as his 2CD, only with some other soloists (f.i. Sybilla Rubens is the soprano on CD). You're right, Koopman wrote the secco recitatives in the style of Bach, and as far as I'm concerned he did a pretty good job with that. Nevertheless, I wasn't that convinced by his choices. As far as I know, Bach very rarely used music again after he had already used it for other liturgical practice. Most parodies are from secular to liturgical, and not vice versa. But hey, I think Koopman had lots of fun rebuilding this piece, and why should we begrudge him that?
    About Schlick: I know that a lot of people don't like her voice very much, but I do! It's true that she had some difficulties in the higher regions, but I could live with that. I always had the feeling that she totally understood what she was singing, with a fine balance of expression and beauty. However, at a certain point a lot of HIP-performers decided to choose for a higher pitch in Bach's early cantatas (after a lot of historical research, of course), and that did not suit her. In Koopman's Volume 1 of the Bach cantatas one can hear that it's just too much for her. But in Herreweghe's SJP she sings a beautiful Zerfließe, mein Herze, IMHO.
    'Nuff said. As always, it's a matter of personal taste. And like I mentioned before, there are more Bach lovers who just don't seem to like her timbre.

    I hope the Max recordings will give you a lot of pleasure! I already had my 'share'. :)


    Marc.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 20, 2007
    Marc, Jun 24, 2007
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  17. Rodrigo de Sá

    sunnyside_up

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    I've been doing a fair bit of listening to my Coin and Herreweghe cantata CDs, trying listen objectively and see past my prejudices, and now I think you are absolutely right on the money here, Marc. I have always focused on what I think are her shortcomings (in the higher pitched register) and let that influence my thoughts on the rest of her singing. I love her voice in #3 of BWV 168 (Schmücke Dich, O Liebe Seele), warm and yet vulnerable at the same time.

    I ordered Max's SMP and SJP ages ago and they haven't arrived yet!!!! I can't find a smiley for throwing a tantrum, so for now I'll just say :cry:

    Happy listening and have a good weekend!
     
    sunnyside_up, Jul 20, 2007
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  18. Rodrigo de Sá

    Rodrigo de Sá This club's crushing bore

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    dear marc and sunnyside:

    you got me interested on Barbara Schlick (spelling?). With whom does she usually sing? In other words, without having to buy a new Saint Matthew or Saint John (and by Herreweghe, who I dislike as a musician), in what cantata record can I find her characteristics?
     
    Rodrigo de Sá, Jul 20, 2007
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  19. Rodrigo de Sá

    Rodrigo de Sá This club's crushing bore

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    Which only means the world HAS changed and that we are getting old. Fancy a young girl nowadays getting in anguish over that! They get excited by Marylin Manson rib removal to perform a you know what on himself, and find that tragic!!!

    As I teach young people (18-25) I sometimes try to convey the intensity of old music to them. One girl told me she thought the Chromatic Fantasy (by Leonhardt, Zell harpsichord) "too intense" (go figure!) and another one told me that Buxtehude's g minor prelude (the best known one) was "soft"... :rolleyes:
     
    Rodrigo de Sá, Jul 20, 2007
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  20. Rodrigo de Sá

    Marc

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    Well, I hope that Sunnyside doesn't mind that I give you 'his' link ;):
    http://www.zerogain.com/forum/showpost.php?p=205918&postcount=88

    The question you ask is rather difficult, you know, with including Schlick and excluding a Bach Passion or a recording by Herreweghe. :D
    If it hasn't to be HIP, try the Weihnachts-Oratorium, conducted by Michel Corboz, with Kurt Equiluz as the Evangelist.

    Right now I'm listening to the aria "Seufzer, Tränen, Kummer, Not" of the Cantata BWV 21 Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, conducted by .... Herreweghe :rolleyes:. Recorded in 1990, and in those days Schlick was still performing very well. Later on she was having more difficulties in the higher regions, like in the first Volumes of the Koopman Complete Cantata Recordings.

    Schlick also recorded works of (f.i.) C.P.E. Bach and J.L. Bach, together with Hermann Max and Das Kleine Konzert, in the eighties. In those days I heard her perform live for the first (and last) time, together with the Dutch conductor (and organist) Charles de Wolff.

    Here's some more general information about her:
    http://www.answers.com/topic/barbara-schlick?cat=entertainment
    And a link that might help you very well indeed:
    http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Schlick-Barbara.htm
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 20, 2007
    Marc, Jul 20, 2007
    #20
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