Bach: St. John Passion -48-49-50-51-52 (Richter/Münchner)

[OrpheuCe]

GOSTO DE BACH EXPRESSIVO..........I like this expressive Bach!!!!

cold Bach is not the real Bach....

[MrZaf12]

I am a jew and i especially enjoy it when the german dude sings "juden juden". 

[doctorfate77]

wow.... bad.

[Wurzelausminus1]

@nisanus: Die Aufnahme ist einfach nicht mehr auf der Höhe der Zeit. Richters viel zu vollgriffiger Cembalocontinuo passt da sehr gut zu. Alles ein Einheitsbrei, möglichst wenig Ausdruck vorallem im Choral am Ende. Furchtbar, dass man sowas hat früher ertragen müssen.

[paripe]

Personalmente, aprecio más las versiones históricas actuales... con instrumentos de época y respetando el rigor barroco. No obstante, gracias a grandes maestros como Richter, la música de Bach ha pasado a ser conocida y amada por el gran público. Se debe tener en cuenta que esta grabación tiene ya unos años, los intrumentos son sinfónicos y el clave, en realidad es un clavicémbalo moderno (nótese la enorme sonoridad).

[musicotodopodero]

Se nota que es antiguo.

La música suena muy fuera de estilo, al igual que el Bajo, que canta todo gritado y desfasado, con mucho vibrato, quedando totalmente atrás en las agilidades - y sin la más mínima intención de expresar algo de lo que el texto dice -.

Creo que es la peor versión que he escuchado de esta maravillosa obra.

Una lástima!!!

[bluegene001]

the music is nice, but the singing is just awful, makes me wanna throw up

[nisanus]

Und der Bariton (der 1.) scheint Theo Adam, der Bayreuther Record-Wotan, zu sein. Alle drei, Adam, Richter und Schreier, waren ja unter Mauersberger beim Dresdner Kreuzchor. Bis dahin dachte man ja in München, dass Bach etwas mit Forellen zu tun habe..... Das Orchester, wie alle Münchner, ist nur gehobener Durchschnitt.

[MeFreshcoBaker]

hmbin so einsam heute wäre echt klasse falls sich jemand finden würde der mit mir schreiben will

[geigenmarie]

Isn't this a strange kind of conducting one can see after 6:17, especially at 6:28 ? He's beating 8th notes ??? I'm not sure I could have played after this...

[LateinerRomulus]

Karl Richter should have used historical instuments - sounds like bad film score, exspecially the violins! The only thing conveying comfort is Peter Schreier (excellent!). The choir is not bad, too.

[LateinerRomulus]

Karl Richter should have used historical instuments - sounds like bad film score, exspecially the violins!

[dis0guise]

Was there ever a more appropriate name for a tenor than Schreier?

Joking aside, this is a good performance, but it doesn't floor me the way that e.g. Suzuki and company do with theirs. More classical style than Baroque, too.

[3NUNS]

@dis0guise : shout ; scream ; oder yell !

[hyphboy]

each to their own. I think there is something to be said for this kind of performance. It is gutsy, there is enough whining from the evangelist... lol joke! Really though, he does have a lot of courage to have those large pauses. Plus the tessitura of the song is such that if you used a lighter and higher bass, then it would not be heard so well over the orchestration. One has to wonder if this was the same vocalist bach used for the higher, earlier aria or the later higher aria?interesting

[tato4527]

la pasión según San Mateo ubica, sin lugar a dudas, a J.S. Bach como el genio más grande que ha tenido la música....

[sosamuera]

Una obra musical no puede ubicar a ningún músico como el más grande, sino el conjunto de su obra. Hablando del conjunto, ciertamente Bach es uno de los 2 o 3 más grandes. Yo creo que Mozart supera a Bach en calidad en el conjunto de su obra.

[paripe]

@sosamuera

Efectivamente, una sola obra no podría hacer a un compositor el más grande. Pero si sumamos a las Pasiones, la Misa en si, las Cantatas, El clave bien temperado, Las Variaciones Goldberg, El Arte de la Fuga, La Ofrenda Musical, Los Conciertos de Brandemburgo, los conciertos para varios instrumentos, Los Motetes, las Suites para Cello, para Violín, los Trios, las Suites para Orquesta o para Solista... y que en cada una de las piezas marca un hito, podemos concluir que Bach es LO MÁS.

[lemusiclover01]

diriger un truc pareil lol ...powerful !!

[IpodTouchAidTeam]

Bitch ripped off Jay-Z... lol, jk

[cirocastro]

I hate this kind of video. If I want to see paints I go to the museum. Here I want to see (not only hear) the performance.

[angelchen1111]

@cirocastro yea, I agree with you.

[tommieboy1657]

It's incredible how Karl Richter plays the harpsichord and how he's back conducting a second later! I like his interpretations very much... he was a genius

[waeman]

great music .. if you could just remove that awful bass !

[amoebe79]

you are so right. The bass is awful. Far too much vibrato for Bach.

[lemusiclover01]

life, death, god, something...c'est de la folie !!!

[micangess]

Bach l'assoluto!!!

Grande...grandissimo Karl Richter.

I cantanti, coro e orchestra straordinari.

[Nganguen]

I dedicace this piece to Bernadette Sara Ottou. This piece is such idyllic, especially at the "In meines Herzens Grunde" at the end...I cry whenever I listen to this!!! Bach is one of those scarcely persons who can makes me cry!!!

[whomakemefeel]

Great throat and super performance it shall be genius for Bach

[LELLOFFE]

i love ALL THE 10 WOMEN THE WE CAN SEE IN THE LAST SECOND.. I'D LIKE TO HAVE ALL THESE FEMME!

[doctorgino2]

that's ghastly!

there's a reason if people try to play bach's music in a historical way: to avoid this results!

listen to the bass in the aria: you can hardly distinguish the notes becouse of the vibrato.

and that huge choir... AAARG!

the only one good (in my opinion) is schreier... as usual

[nilsuthor]

First of all, you need to learn your plurals in English. Secondly, were you there when Bach himself premiered his works so that you can state what a historical rendering is? Third, the results Richter achieved were perfect. Fourth, all researchers of the singing voice agree that vibrato is vital if one wants to sing freely, and that the straight tone is never free. Finally, I think Bach would have loved to see his works performed by a 1000-voice choir.

[doctorgino2]

1 I'm sorry for my English

2 the things I said about historical way of playing baroque music are made up by myself, but are widespread in the musical sphere

3 I don't really think so... being one of the firs doesn't mean being the best

4 I'm not speaking about common vibrato... I'm speaking about that terrible vibrato! how can you sing freely after having killed the notes?

5 I don't know if he would have loved a 1000-voice choir... What's sure is that he wrote for small choir and orchestra

[TrebleLover]

This comment is totally crazy! If this is perfection...! My goodness! Vibrato doesn't mean that you can mess all notes up. I doubt Bach would have loved his works sung with women and with 1000 voices: this is not Mahler, you know that, don't you?

[Timrath]

You don't have to have been there to know how things were done back then. We have historic sources. Things like books, treatises, letters, etc. There's also extrapolation from extant historic instruments and authographs. Further, we can know that certain things were not done during a certain period, when these same things were considered novel at later times (eg. vibrato).

So, yes, we do know quite a lot about the past. Some things remain unknown, but the basics are common knowledge today.

[Timrath]

I agree, the vibrato is terrible.

The "Nnnnnnnach Golgatha!" also made me cringe.

The huge choir I find over the top, but I could live with it. After all, the people attending church were supposed to sing along during the chorals, that's why Bach uses old, well-known melodies, instead of composing his own - so that the common people can sing, too. This is known as "turba," but they don't do that today any more.

[Myszkin127]

Don't you think that this passion is played as for e.g. , I don.t know, lest say Mahler symphony? Maybe I am heretic but I claim that Richter should direct Wagner but not Bach . The Tenor made me ecstatic but vision of St. John Passion by Richter not. Strong, powerful, pathetic - too Deutsch

[FriendlyCroock]

But the vibrato I cant say is good

[Hjadlowker]

This mifght well be the most beautiful performance I've ever heard! Yes, yes, I know... it's probably not up to today's standards of "historicism" but who cares? I don't: I find it more musical than many and extremely moving. Isn't that what music is all about? I love Schreir's delivery of the text, Engen's large voice, and Richter's harpsichord. Thank you! I'd love to see it complete.

[dulcissimusverus]

Das einzig tolle an der Interpretation ist Peter Schreier. Richter hätte seinen Interpretationsstil den Erkenntnissen der historischen Aufführungspraxis anpassen müssen und nicht einfach wie in den 50ern lassen dürfen.

[BiancoSanGiovanni]

Generell mag ich Bach-Interpretationen von Karl Richter sehr gerne, nur was ich bei Richter absolut schrecklich finde, ist seine häufig total übertriebene Continuo-Besetzung; so auch in diesem Rezitativ.

Meiner Meinung nach ist in allen GEISTLICHEN Stücken Bachs im Continuo ein Cembalo völlig fehl am Platz; hier muss grundsätzlich eine Orgel verwendet werden, die jedoch klanglich in den Hintergrund tritt und die auch nicht zu brausendem Orgelgetön ausarten und die anderen Stimmen übertönen darf.

[Heikkiantila]

I completely agree! I love the older Richter recordings of Bach's great sacred works from late 1950's and sixties, and there he always uses organ in continuo. DGG and Unitel have released the video recordings of Richter's b minor mass, St. Matthew passion and St. John passion, all from the seventies (this clip is from the latter). In both passions Richter conducts from the harpsichord. The instrument sounds horrible, and Richter seems to be showing off, making the result even worse.

[ColexHamels]

this isnt pucini

[fercha90s]

hahaha!! :P

[FriendlyCroock]

You are stupid!

[ColexHamels]

the bass, in my opinion, is poor in the baroque setting

[zingzangspillip]

I have to agree with musicalidea. The soloist's vibrato obscures the melismatic phrases. String players are always instructed to use less vibrato when playing Baroque music, and so should this guy have been. My college performed this last year, and the 4th year baritone gave a better performance.

[tcmlegend]

Too slow for my liking...

[musicalidea]

Well actually listening again, I will tone it down to say that I don't favor the legato strings, large orchestra, or the operatic style of the bass. I feel that the melody is obscured by his vibrato, which is perhaps a result of the unnecessary volume he feels is necessary for any performance, regardless of the period. The voice should be far more agile, less sluggish and pure.

The baritone with the glasses singing the recit. is far closer to this ideal than the lethargic walrus before him.

[jewish1972]

try another version.

[OKIN1981]

The cast was not Richter's choice, the production of UNITEL took personality, which was absolute popular at this time and which stood under contract with "Deutsche Grammophon". It was the same problem like recording on LP, Richter was in contract with "Deutsche Grammophon". For live concerts, he could take any singer, making a new LP, he could take singers, the DG told him to take.

[alecs1976]

the "bariton" with the glasses is the tenor peter schreier ;))

[harvinsky]

Fantastique! J'adore ca!

[musicalidea]

Far too Romantic a rendering...like some Wagnerian walrus slobbering through what was intended as a crisp, Divine invocation, a transcendetal suffering...this is just Crisco.

[nilsuthor]

You understand zilch.

[musicalidea]

though that is far more than your own understanding, apparently, since this is Crisco.

[jewish1972]

my dear, you are despising one of the very bess pieces of music in history. You should consider what you have said very carefully.

[musicalidea]

my dear, i'm quite clearly not despising the piece, but this improper and anachronistic interpretation thereof. How could you at all gather that I was berating the composition itself from what I said. Read more carefully.

[jewish1972]

maybe you are right and the interpretation doesnt follow very much the idea J.S.Bach had in mind. Anyway i think its a good one. By the way, do you know how to find here the great catholic mass in H-moll? Ive tried towithout success.

[00000ppp]

Fantastic! Please post more!!! No more early music bullshit.

[mingweicello]

can you tell us what and where is the fresco showed in the video??

[waltts]

5:05 - is that Liberace?

[Thexenion]

It sounds so powerful, ive never heard St. Johns Passion by Richter. Really impressed...

[icremerius1]

It is a shame that you show the pictures for such a long time instead of showing that great bass-bariton Siegmund Nimsgern a little longer, as you did with the tenor and the choir!

[Heikkiantila]

The whole production is ruined by those silly pictures. The bass is Kieth Engen. Even though we see only a very short glimpse of him, the voice is easy to recognise. Nimsgern sang the parts of Peter and Pilate, Engen the arias.

[oldmutti]

Even if Nimsgern sang the parts of Peter and Pilate, I am sorry to correct you: the short glimpse of the singer we see is Nimsgern, because I know him personally. According to the text, it is probably Pilate´s part what he´s singing.

[Heikkiantila]

Sorry, I expressed myself badly. The bass seen shortly in this clip singing the part of Pilate is (and should be, according to the credits) indeed Nimsgern. The bass singing the aria, but not seen because of the paintings, is Engen. I own the DVD and I remember beeing utterly frustrated by those same damned paintings scrolling from left to right, right to left, down to up and up to down over and over again, blocking the view to the performing artists.

[FriendlyCroock]

This is the original video is not his fault

[greenegage]

Thanks very much. I must get around to buying it.

[greenegage]

Fabulous. I must save up! Have you any idea who the soloists are on the recently released Brahms Requiem DVD conducted by Richter? I can't find the answer on the internet and I thought you might know! Many thanks. Andy

[TheGreatPerformers]

yup, save up for it! on that Requiem (didn't know it was out!)--enlarging the pic of the DVD case they show on Amazon sez soloist are Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart.

[baldmetal]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Aleksi6969]

Great sound, thanks for posting