1998 St. Matthew Passion [Enhanced]

Second, and I don't consider this very important to the "use" of this recording - the interactive CDROM does not seem to work on "relatively" slow Macs, which are within the specs given for its use. (I was trying on "only a slow" 210 MHz PPC604e with 1MB L2 cache, and the sound just kept dropping out, even with nothing else running and no VM.) I had a similar report from a friend on a better equipped Mac. It worked fine on my office PC, and frankly I think it was a really heavy experience to go through the recording with this CDROM, with the text and analysis in front of me. I've loaned the CDROM out a few times already, and expect to do so more in the future.

In summary - this is my favorite interpretation of St. Matthew. No, the miking isn't what you would hear in a concert hall. But it is what you would like to hear in your living room, to hear the dramatic solo parts. It is definitely my favorite to listen to, over Gardiner (my previous favorite), Schreier, and others. I recommend this CD for listening.

I just hope Harmonia Mundi does something about the packaging. And maybe the CDROM requirements.

The modern trend which Herreweghe follows closely is to integrate HIP as much as possible, yet always with great precaution, since excesses tend to transform beautiful arias into barren pieces of didactic "museum music". Although I admire his Cantatas, Harnoncourt's Passio makes, on my oppinion, such a dangerous excess. It almost deprives the work of its original beauty in order to correspond the presumed original style. Of all, the best recording ever done is perhaps Gardiner's. He's a genious in restoring not only THE authentic sound, but also the authentic beauty and sheer dramaticism. Herreweghe comes closely in the second place. Both performances are themselves works of art and few time should be spared classifying which one is better. Puting Herreweghe slightly below Gardiner came from a personal preference over more historically accurate staccato tempi.

Along with this controversial release were several others:
the cushy and romanticized Karajan release,
the very slow Klemperer release,
all of Harnoncourt's annoyingly unpolished releases,
and Bernstein's abridged English-language release.

Now Gardiner's recording can join Harnoncourt's in the period instrument platitude dominated by stiffness, uneffected orchestras and soloists, and overbearing use of staccato. This is because the St. Matthew Passion finally has a new, universally loved interpretation by Herreweghe on Harmonia Mundi.

The key to Herreweghe's success in his release is approach of legato instead of staccato, and by taking a look at the very adventurous, enlightening, and well-organized CD-Rom which is part of this grand St. Matthew Passion package, you'll see Mr. Herreweghe has the knowledge to proove his beautiful approach.
(Harmonia Mundi's attractive package includes: the complete libretto, the complete St. Matthew Passion on three discs, and "The Birth of the St. Matthew Passion: An Interactive Journey" CD-Rom with numerous biographies, histories, scholarly notes, the complete Passion with pop-up libretto, and synopsises of each number of the Passion.)

Herreweghe also posesses what Gardiner doesn't, an astute judgement of tempo.

In contrast to Gardiner's impersonality in his St. Matthew Passion, Herreweghe's sense of the work's spitual contemplativeness is evident throughout, and in effect, the Choir and Orchestra of the Collegium Vocale create a very absorbing recording which is never tedious for a second, and Ian Bostridge's youthfully lithe Evangelist and Josef Selig's effective Christ finally make for a Matthauspassion where you don't find yourself skipping over the Recitatives.

All of the arias are favorites here thanks to the fine soloists, among them: male alto, Andreas Scholl.

The double chorus is correctly sized according to Bach's own preferences. In fact, Gardiner's choirs are oversized. Only Herreweghe's uses the correct proportions.

Harmonia Mundi's sound quality is clear as a bell. Both orchestras and both choirs are equally audible making every chorale, chorus, and turbae chorus very dramatic (compare to relatively poor sound quality of the Gardiner recording where the second choir is barely audible causing Gardiner's recording to lose it's weightiness especially in the Duo with Chorus "So ist mein Jesus nun Gefangen").

This is an overwhelmingly beautiful record, but Herreweghe also keeps in mind that this is sacred music, that is: it is written for the church, and he seems to balance everything out just perfectly.

Philippe Herreweghe's 3+1 CD set is strongly recommended to all Bach lover's alike. But if you still insist on hearing Gardiner's side of the story, buy Gardiner's Highlights of the St. Matthew Passion AND Herreweghe's Complete St. Matthew Passion.