This is Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s second recording of the St.
John Passion. His previous version was made under studio
conditions for DG Archiv as long ago as March 1986. It’s been
a much-admired staple of my collection – and the collections
of many others, I dare say – for many years. This new account
is a live recording, taken from a single performance, which
was broadcast by the German radio station NDR Kultur.
The performance was given at the Collegiate Church of Saints
Peter and Paul, Königslutter, which is also known as the Kaiserdom
(or Emperor Cathedral). The concert in question was the first
in a series of Bach concerts involving Gardiner and his team,
which has been in train for several years now. I note from the
booklet that several other major Bach choral works have since
been given and I hope that further recordings will therefore
follow on the SDG label.
I’ve found listening to this new account of the St John Passion
an enthralling and moving experience. Chief among its many attractions
is the Evangelist of Mark Padmore. Tastes will vary but in my
view his account here is absolutely superb. His voice is not
as sweet and mellifluous as that of the late Anthony Rolfe Johnson,
the Evangelist on Gardiner’s earlier recording and I wouldn’t
want to be without Rolfe Johnson’s interpretation. However,
Padmore is even better at the dramatic side of the role – not
least in the scene before Pilate in Part II – yet he is excellent
also in the more meditative stretches of the narrative. Thus,
he conveys beautifully the pathos of Christ giving his mother
into the keeping of St. John and the anguish of Peter after
his threefold denial of Christ. Every word is crystal clear
– and in what seems to me to be excellent German - his phrasing
is faultless and he paces the recitatives intelligently. I can
say no better than that Padmore brings the story vividly and
convincingly to life in one of the best assumptions of the Evangelist’s
role I’ve heard.
As if that were not enough he sings the tenor arias also. He
delivers the demanding ‘Ach, mein Sinn’ with ringing conviction
and I was interested to note that while the pace of this aria
is not much different from that adopted in 1986, Rufus Müller
appears somewhat discomfited by the speed on that recording
and the difficult dotted rhythms sound jagged, as if delivered
under pressure. Padmore is much more convincing. The tortured
aria, ‘Erwäge’ finds him in wonderfully fluid and plangent voice
and he sings it superbly.
Among the other soloists, Hanno Müller-Brachmann makes a dignified
Christus. He has a fuller, richer voice than Stephen Varcoe
(1986). By comparison I’m afraid Varcoe sounds rather plain
and I much prefer Müller-Brachmann. The bass arias and the role
of Pilate are in the very safe hands of Peter Harvey, a stalwart
of the Bach
Cantata Pilgrimage. He’s a fine Pilate and he does the arias
very well. ‘Eilt, ihr angefochtnen Seelen’ requires a mobile
voice and Harvey delivers. Later, he spins firm, sustained lines
in ‘Mein teurer Heiland, lass dich fragen’.
The soprano arias are shared between Katharine Fuge and Joanne
Lunn; both excel. Miss Lunn is light and agile in ‘Ich folge
dich gleichfalls’ while Katharine Fuge’s account of ‘Zerfliesse,
mein Herze’ is heart-rending and meltingly beautiful. This is
an elevated and eloquent piece of singing on her part. In the
1986 recording the alto arias were sung by a male singer, Michael
Chance, who was very impressive. This time round Gardiner has
opted for a female alto. Part of me misses the unique timbre
of a male alto but Miss Fink’s beguiling singing soon makes
me glad of Gardiner’s choice. All her singing is distinguished
but, rightly, she saves her finest artistry for ‘Es ist vollbracht!’
In this aria, which is graced by an excellent cello obbligato,
her performance is eloquent and deeply felt.
The contribution of The Monteverdi Choir is, predictably, very
fine indeed. This is evident from the very first chorus where,
supported by acute playing from the orchestra, their singing
is marvellously incisive. The chorales, too, are excellently
done throughout the work. But the high point of the choral contribution
is the choir’s work as the crowd in the judgement scene in Part
Two. This whole extended passage, driven on by Mark Padmore’s
searing narration, is riveting. The choir is absolutely superb,
most effectively conveying the impression of a baying mob –
though the singing is never less than cultivated. Their cries
of ‘Kreuzige’ are electrifying. But that’s not all: just a few
moments later the clarity and precision of the singing in ‘Wir
haben ein Gesetz’ is excellent. Later on the precision and dexterity
of the singing in ‘Lasset uns den nicht zerteilen’, taken at
breakneck speed, really catches the urgency of Bach’s writing.
The English Baroque Soloists support all the singers, solo and
choral, with playing of great accomplishment and proficiency.
All the obbligatos are delivered with fine artistry and the
ensemble playing is of an equally high order. The instrumentalists
play a full part in ensuring that the tension of the performance
is set at a high level – right from the very start of the first,
suspenseful chorus and throughout.
Over all this presides Sir John Eliot Gardiner. I know some
people don’t like his way with Bach, feeling that sometimes
his direction of the music can be too brisk in style. Having
immersed myself in the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage I don’t subscribe
to that view. There may be the occasional misjudgement – no
conductor is infallible – but over the years I’ve found him
to be a thoughtful and stirring Bach interpreter and that’s
once again the case here. He contributes an extensive and fascinating
booklet note in the course of which he comments that the experience
that he and his colleagues had of performing all Bach’s surviving
sacred cantatas in 2000 made them look afresh at the St John
Passion when they returned to it subsequently. While I’m
certainly not about to discard my copy of Gardiner’s 1986 recording
I’d say that this new version, which has the added electricity
of unedited live performance, brings new dimensions to his interpretation.
I find it an involving and moving experience.
As usual, SDG’s production values are very high and the engineers
of NDR Kultur have done excellent work in producing truthful,
atmospheric and well-balanced sound. I hope that further recordings
of Bach’s major choral works will follow from this source. For
now, however, this splendid new account of the St. John Passion
is something that all devotees of Bach’s vocal music should
try to hear.
John Quinn
Katharine Fuge (soprano); Joanne Lunn (soprano); Bernarda Fink (alto); Mark Padmore (tenor) – Evangelist and arias; Hanno Müller-Brachmann (bass) – Jesus; Peter Harvey (bass) – Pilatus and arias
