Bach - B minor Mass - 24 - Agnus Dei

[amaster1991]

"its to classic, and it must be barroc"......i dont like this version.....i really prefer Andrea Scholl

[logrithm4]

This is very good, but not exactly the way Bach meant it to be. Look at the one with Andreas Scholl it is much better. Very good still.

[y7u7r7i]

pecca-a-aaaa... ta mu-un-di... THE baroque melody!!!

[killerbunny123123]

too much vibrato....it makes the notes unclear. An aria slow and harmonic as this one is best sang with straight and plain voice in order not to smother the notes.

[cenodus]

Well !!! VIVA HERTHA... her voice is incredible ! so rich with thick tones yet very delicate. The only other interpretation of similar depth and emotion is Ludwig/Karajan with Wiener Philh.

[Max0Inq]

DeEeEeEeEeEiii... Too much vibrato. : /

[jpeezjk]

This is what happens when an opera diva sings Bach I guess...

[paripe]

Sublime, exquisita, maravillosa. BRAVO¡¡¡

[Siberiaeterna]

She is oftenly out of tune.

[koledy123]

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, dona eis requiem. grant them rest. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, dona eis requiem. grant them rest. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, dona eis requiem sempiternam. grant them eternal rest.

[loiropoderoso07]

1327

[maluleca]

La mejor interpretación que haya oído hasta ahora :)

[HerrWarja]

Oh my! Look at the vibrato the violinists use! Not very baroque! :P

[sophelet]

Very heartfelt, but over-romanticized. The soloist sings flat, unfortunately.

[beethomozart]

sublime playing and breath taking singing!!!

[SuperSaltpeanuts]

she sings so LAME, SO INCREDIBLY LAME!

[aproposofnothing1]

surprisingly, few would agree, but i do. the orchestra are doing their job, but the lady is clearly not. i get the feeling she sees the score a second time ever or so.

[SuperSaltpeanuts]

@aproposofnothing1 look in my favorites for agnus dei that is the best performance ive ever listened to

[starbreez3]

@SuperSaltpeanuts not lame lol, just slow tempo makes this even harder, u know it's so extensive u can see, not anybody have enough breath to go on!

[SuperSaltpeanuts]

@starbreez3 yeah its kind of hard, but this he is singing with much more passion than this WOMAN :D

[angryjalapeno]

I love her voice but the tempo is way too slow.

[silazioz]

i think she sings it a little bit too romantic for Bach, its still beautiful though :)

[singinsagg]

Marietta Simpson does a good job of this

[sherbetstraw]

not very inspirational. she may be a good singer but not in this piece.

[madaboutvoice]

One of the finest alto voices ever. Poor Hertha, I think she had to submit to the conductor's choice of tempo, which is unrealisticly slow for this aria and some particular sections in it. She is awesome singing Erbarme dich in St Mathew's Passion, also with Richter.

[JAFRA414]

The best performance I ever saw and heard ! Thanks ! - Jan Freidlin , composer

[metaliveps]

bad singer.. out of tune

[herakles120]

The alto singer pronounced the "Agnus" in the classical latin. Most of the performers use the ecclesiastical latin pronunciation, though. Both works fine with me.

[sergiucroitoru]

absolutly beautiful...

[azizdad]

it s one hell of a difficult go easy on her ... brava

[feetje2008]

I must agree she's from time to time out of tune, especially 1: 23 - 1: 30 is way too low. But I disagree about what you say about "those old performances": it is Karl Richter ..the best Bach conductor ever

[amoebe79]

Jesus, one of those old performances...not true to the original at all. Thank god historical performance practice has gotten us away from this. Plus she is really out of tune.

[dcbandnerd]

My favorite part of the Mass, without a doubt. Simply breath taking.

[johnnyDuhan]

@dcbandnerd I have been listening to the Agnus Dei (not this version) over and over for the past few weeks and you are right, it is the highlight of the Mass. One of Bach's finest moments. And that is saying something, for Bach had many many fine moments, as I'm sure you know.

[marinoubou84]

<) <) <)

[singspiel35]

too slow and lethargic a performance for me. she is breathing at every chance she gets!! her long lines are uninspired and lack energy. i felt like taking a nap! it's a shame... because this is the best aria in the mass!!!!

[Kna11111]

Просто потрясающе! Великолепно! ГРАНДИОЗНО!!!

[timaahhh]

Delauge is correct, she does sing outta tune a bit. I love this Agnus Dei though. I like the soloist that use less of an operatic tone on this particular solo.

[nickeeboy]

Nice but just feel it to be on the heavy side.  Lots of chest voice?

[acerb45666555]

*****

[delauge]

Maybe I am earless but I am afraid she sings (sometimes) out of tune... for example here : 1:22

[misterbadguy23]

didnt really enjoy that. pronounciation is wobbly at times and she scoops to get the notes!

[muscarine2000]

that was stupid of me but one of the voilinists looks lile him!

[Heikkiantila]

The violinist You are probably referring to is Otto Buechner (or Buchner actually, "u" spelled with an umlaut), Richter's Concert Master and solo violinist in the late 50's and 60's. The same guy played the breathtaking solo in "Erbarme dich" of Richter's 1958 version of St. Matthew Passion, again together with Hertha Toepper.

[muscarine2000]

is that richter himself on the violin??

[fabianovaler]

Engraçado, não tem comentários em português aqui... Brasileiros....

Muito lindo, glorioso!

[mendoncacorreia]

Pus aqui um - mas... em Inglês!

Há no "YouTube" uma excelente página de música clássica dum português meu amigo: "Oedipus Colloneus". Se gosta do género, recomendo-a vivamente!

Uma Santa Páscoa!

[pirx0]

powalające,rewelacyjny głos ,ogromne brawa!!!

[acerb45666555]

comment #3- Perfectly fine performance! as a matter of fact, i shall listen to her again!

[acerb45666555]

Sweeeeet! 5/5 :)

[violashizzle]

Fantastic, i just love the richness and fullness of sound and structure in this interpretation! Viva Richter!

[muscarine2000]

100% with you! here, the music does not bow to the voice making this interpretation wonderfully complete!!

[leandrusi]

Snif!...

[acerb45666555]

)O( Glorious!!

[Yuriy21]

Музыка Баха - вероятно, лучшее из того, что оставит после себя человечество. Что касается исполнения, то у певицы не только в высшей степени прекрасный голос, и она не только великолепно чувствует Баха, - она ещё и колоссальная личность, что слышно в каждой ноте.

[Nerdimtar]

A truly mediocre performance in my opinion ;-/

This song is made for a man.

I can only recommend people to listen to Alain Aubin's version on Lambarena's "Bach to Africa". He is outstanding, deeply moving, very close to the perfect balance between technical excellence and artistic expression.

Besides is voice is very special, has much richer/deeper tones than most countertenors,and that suites perfectly well to this piece.

In comparison, Andreas Scholl's version is barely average.

[10st1DenTT]

refined tastes can be

a burden on occasion :)

[leandrusi]

I agree,Alain Aubin's version on Lambarena's "Bach to Africa" is outstanding. But I think its a shame that they decided to include those african voices at the end(may be to"chain" with the next piece?)somewhat ruining what could be the best version ever.

Now when you say "made for a man" you mean the best versions are from male performers right? Because in the sheet it says "Alto".

[acerb45666555]

Heathen!

[johnnycon]

At 1:22, she's singing between a D and an Eflat? Not a distinctive appoggiatura.

[decreasetherisk]

She repeats that several times actually. I assume she was doing it intentionally.

[SourianteLH76]

I suppose she was simply following the score written by JS Bach !!! Don't you think so ??!!

[NoisySerg]

Well... she's following the score but she is also getting out of tune. The score has an Eb at that point.

[AKSTERSKY]

it is still a an outstanding performance; thank you for posting this video!

[decreasetherisk]

Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

[VampireSeduction]

So beautiful. TT^TT

[nutty42]

4 months ago , this sounded dreadful. Today it is heaven; Sorry Herta. You are magnificent as your usual self. God bless you & protect you.

[mendoncacorreia]

May I join you in the compliment? In all fairness, as I have criticized Topper in "Qui sedes ad dextram Patris" (not too harshly, though), I must to bow (very deeply) to her here. This is the most delicate moment of the whole Mass, and she is simply perfect: as humble and believer as the roman centurion in the Gospel...

[tan73h]

it's very sad (:::::|)

[gbf5]

the best interpretation

[dreioktaven]

She was one of the best contraltos. She suffers so beautiful in this aria. I've never heard it again like this.

[JCM900dude]

a she-man?

[nutty42]

What happened to Hertha Topper? What went wrong? It would be best to cut it out compleply to safeguard the beauty of this great work.

[ANataliaS]

Agnus Dei...I'll never forget St.Petersburg 25 June 2003.... Angel voice...for ever... Thanks

[MitchelWeaver]

Wow, I know she's begging for mercy and everything, but it's not supposed to be because she sings so poorly. I was expecting her to go into a coma at any moment. Ruined one of Bach's most moving pieces.

[letussewourpants]

i think this is my fav bach song heh.

[altosuperior]

awful.

[DarienFithos]

I HATE GERMAN LATIN

i mean, wat?

[philiphcalifornia]

beautiful

[sasukesgirl89]

sasukesgirl89 no bis agnus dei qui tol lis pec ta mun di

[Panzerfaustpt]

Qui tolis pecata mundi