Cologne Chamber Choir, Collegium Cartusianum, Peter Neumann
Bach revised his St John Passion time and again - indeed making it one of his most enigmatic and fascinating compositions. On the 300th anniversary of its world premiere, MDG is reissuing the highly acclaimed recording for the first time in full three-dimensional sound on Super Audio CD for the PREZIOSA series.
Under the direction of Peter Neumann, the Cologne Chamber Choir and Collegium Cartusianum are joined by top-class soloists, with a magnificent Markus Brutscher as the Evangelist, as well as Ruth Holton, Bogna Bartosz, Thomas Laske and Tom Sol, who perform their demanding roles with great poignancy.
The fantastic acoustics of the Bendorf-Sayn Abbey can be experienced with striking naturalness in MDG's legendary 2+2+2audiophile recording, in addition to the spatial layout with the historic Stumm organ at the top of the gallery and singers and instrumentalists positioned below.
St. John Passion positively thrives on its immense, almost opera-like dramatic writing, with individual narratives and crowd scenes that interact so directly with one another. Bach's1725 version surprises with a newly composed opening chorus (later used in his St. Matthew Passion) and several new arias.
Featured on BBC Radio 3's Record Review on 24th March: 'The large Baroque organ gives a depth and rich colour to the choruses. A very pure lovely evangelist sound.'
Tatjana Vorobjova
Cantata Collective; Nicholas McGegan
