Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
St. Mark Passion, BWV 247 (Reconstructed 1731 version by Dietmar
Hellmann and Andreas Glöckner) [73:15]
Amarcord: Wolfram Lattke (tenor); Martin Lattke (tenor);
Frank Ozimek (baritone); Daniel Knauft (bass); Holger Krause (bass); Anja Zügner
(soprano); Dorothea Wagner (soprano); Clare
Wilkinson (alto); Silvia Janak (alto)
Die Kölner Akademie/Michael Alexander Willens
rec. live, 26-28 March 2009, Frauenkirche, Dresden, Germany. DDD
CARUS 83.244 [73:15]
This impressive live recording of the St. Mark Passion, BWV 247 forms
part of the Carus label’s series of recordings ‘Music from the
Frauenkirche Dresden’. Fittingly I received this release - an account
of Jesus’s Passion based on the Gospel of Mark - during Lent in time
for Easter. Founded in the eleventh century the Dresden Frauenkirche was burnt
out and destroyed as a result of Allied bombing in February 1945. After decades
of inactivity extensive reconstruction work commenced in 1992. The work in
the interior and organ was finally completed in 2005 when the restored Frauenkirche
was consecrated.
Just as the Frauenkirche Dresden was reconstructed so was the St. Mark Passion.
Bach’s obituary from 1750 claimed that he had written five passions.
Only the St. John Passion (1724) and the St. Matthew Passion (1727)
have survived in their entirety. The St. Mark Passion was known to have
been first performed on Good Friday 1731 at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. It
seems that Bach’s score of the St. Mark Passion was at one time
held under the stewardship of his son Carl Philipp Emanuel. Virtually all of
the music is now lost and only two printed copies of the Picander texts were
known. In 2009 another printed copy of the text was found in St. Petersburg,
Russia containing two additional arias. Over the years there have been several
attempts to reconstruct the music to the St. Mark Passion. Notably Dietmar
Hellmann realised a version of the score in 1964. This adaptation for Carus
of the St. Mark Passion directed by Michael Alexander Willens has been
prepared by Bach scholar Andreas Glöckner based on Dietmar Hellmann’s
reconstruction.
Unity is provided in the reconstructed score to the St. Mark Passion by
the often repeated use of familiar chorale melodies. Probably best known for
its use in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 and the St. Matthew
Passion, BWV 244 is Hans Leo Hassler’s well known hymn tune Herzlich
tut mich Erlangen which is employed here on three of the tracks. Also used
is the famous chorale melody attributed to Martin Luther Ein' feste Burg
ist unser Gott that Bach used in his cantata BWV 80 of the same name.
Vocal ensemble Amarcord was founded in 1992 originally by former male members
of the St. Thomas Church choir in Leipzig. On this Carus recording of the St.
Mark Passion Amarcord use nine soloists who also perform the choir parts.
Normally Amarcord consist of five male voices: Wolfram Lattke (tenor); Martin
Lattke (tenor); Frank Osijek (baritone); Daniel Knauft (bass) and Holger Krause
(bass). For this project and some other projects with music by Heinrich Schütz
and his contemporaries the ensemble are augmented by four guest female singers:
Anja Zügner (soprano); Dorothea Wagner (soprano); Clare Wilkinson (alto)
and Silvia Janak (alto). Under their talented music director Michael Alexander
Willens the fifteen strong Die Kölner Akademie (The Cologne Academy) perform
Bach’s late-baroque music on instruments appropriate to the period.
Bach recordings using large-scale forces on modern instruments were the norm
in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s but are far less common today. A particular favourite
Bach interpreter of sacred music is Karl Richter who in the period 1958/75
released over seventy cantatas for Archiv Produktion. Only the most passionate
of authenticists would fail to acknowledge the distinction of these recordings.
In addition Richter’s older contemporary and fellow countryman the conductor
Fritz Werner recorded around 60 cantatas in the 1950s-1970s for Erato. I have
enjoyed the splendid and passionate 1973/74 account of the Bach Mass in
B Minor, BWV 232 from Herbert von Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic
and the Wiener Singverein with a stellar cast of soloists on Deutsche Grammophon
459 4602. Following the tradition of using large-scale forces there are several
other recordings that I admire especially the recordings from the 1950s and
1960s from conductors Carlo Maria Giulini/BBC Legends and Otto Klemperer/EMI.
Michael Alexander Willens’ historically informed approach to Bach’s
sacred choral music is in the spirit of the authentic performance style that
quickly became fashionable and began to take centre-stage around the 1980s.
Hearing the finest of these period instrument performances can persuade even
the most diehard traditionalist that smaller forces can provide considerable
advantages. With their intimate and lean approach to performing Bach the very
finest of the period instrument exponents provide glorious clear tones, crisp
and clear articulation with eloquent phrasing and rhythmic control. Probably
the best known authentic instrument specialists performing Bach today are Harry
Christophers/Caro; Paul McCreesh/Deutsche Grammophon; John Eliot Gardiner/Archiv
Produktion and Soli Deo Gloria; Masaaki Suzuki/BIS; Andrew Parrott/Virgin;
Sigiswald Kuijken/Challenge Classics and Philippe Herreweghe/Harmonia Mundi.
The relatively spare resources that Willens employs here in the St. Mark
Passion reminds me of a similar approach taken by director Paul McCreesh
with his nine vocalists and twenty-seven strong Gabrieli Players on their marvellous
recording of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion on Deutsche Grammophon
474 200-2. Recorded in 2002 at Roskilde Cathedral, McCreesh using single voices
to a part divides his vocal soloists who divide the choir into two and his
Gabrieli Players are split too. Another period instrument specialist favouring
a scaled down approach is Andrew Parrott and his Taverner Consort and Players
on their highly successful account of the St. John Passion on Virgin
Veritas 5 62019 2. Parrott who recorded the score in 1990 at Abbey Road, London
with two voices to a part employs just eleven solo singers to form the choir
with the use of additional boys’ voices.
Although compact the vocal forces of Willens, McCreesh and Parrott should not
be underestimated. They are eminently characterful and can convey a real potency.
In reality these directors probably employ a larger number of singers and players
than the resources that Bach could afford and usually had available to him.
For Willens the recitatives and choral responses are expertly narrated by actor
Dominique Horwitz as the Evangelist who is placed in a slightly over-resonant
location at the Dresden Frauenkirche. I did find it hard to get used to the
concept of spoken recitatives and choral responses. A far more satisfactory
effect is achieved by both Paul McCreesh/Deutsche Grammophon in the St.
Matthew Passion and Andrew Parrott/Virgin Veritas in the St. John Passion who
use sung recitatives with basso continuo accompaniment with responses
from the choir. John Eliot Gardiner’s period instrument account of the St.
Matthew Passion from 1988 at Snape Maltings for Archiv Produktion also
uses sung recitatives with basso continuo and a chorus for the responses.
Michael Alexander Willens is in total sympathy with the music and directs his
orchestral and choral forces with significant effect. Most impressive is the
crisp and sensitive playing from the period instrument ensemble Die Kölner
Akademie. In the choruses Willens obtains consistently glorious singing from
the augmented vocal ensemble Amarcord. High on expression and reverential character
the balance of the nine strong choir never cries out for increased weight.
Overall the blend between the vocal forces and the instrumental accompaniment
feels just right. I think placing the woodwind a touch further forward in the
balance would have been preferable.
Of the cast of soloists alto Clare Wilkinson performs both Mein Heiland, dich
vergeß ich nicht! (My Saviour, I’ll forget thee not!)
and Falsche Welt, dein schmeichelnd Küssen (Untrue world,
thy fawning kisses). Her two arias are excellent vehicles for the alto
to demonstrate her attractively creamy and flexible timbre. Singing with dutiful
distinction in Falsche Welt the smoothness of her long vocal line is
striking. In the soprano aria Er kommt, er kommt, er ist vorhanden! (He
comes, he comes, he is now present!) I enjoyed Dorothea Wagner’s
bright and fresh tones with excellent diction and piety. It would be remiss
not to mention the delightful violin playing from leader Pauline Nobes.
Wolfram Lattke performs his aria Mein Tröster ist nicht mehr bey mir (My
Helper is no more with me) with appropriate regard for the sacred text. The
tenor felt especially comfortable when under pressure in his high register but
I was less than enamoured with his trait for ‘r’ rolling. Notable
is the violin playing from Pauline Nobes that prefaces the aria Welt und Himmel
nehmt zu Ohren (World and Heaven, O now Hearken). The smooth, light
creamy timbre of soprano Anja Zügner is most attractive. She seems most
secure and happiest at the top of her range.
This is a live recording from Dresden Frauenkirche. I couldn’t hear any
significant audience noise and there is no applause at the conclusion of the
score. The Frauenkirche acoustic has a noticeable if slight reverberation but
nothing to detract from the pleasure and the agreeably clear sound. This excellently
presented and performed release of the St. Mark’s Passion from Carus
includes a fine and informative essay together with full German texts with English
translations. Bach collectors and lovers of sacred music should not hesitate.
Michael Cookson