St. John Passion

Packaged similarly to his immortal release of the St. Matthew Passion, Herreweghe follows-up with the St. John Passion, and this recording has all the beauty and drive and fire as it's sister recording.

Released just last month (Jan 2002), it has already achieved critical acclaim. The Collegium Vocale is such an astounding choir and the Herreweghe's orchestra is admirably full of clean virtuosic ability. They are complemented by Harmonia Mundi's impeccable sound quality.

It is lively and contemplative. It is never tedious for a minute. Herreweghe has a very nice approach to music of any period.

The Evangelist is very good, but most would be wondering of the whereabouts of Ian Bostridge. After all, he was the star of Harmonia Mundi's St. Matthew Passion. We will all miss him whole heartedly on this recording. Alto Andreas Scholl is again a winner. His heartwrenching/heroic "Es Ist Vollbracht" is my favorite (next to Ingeborg Danz on Rilling's Johannespassion).

The Johannespassion was written originally in 1724. This is the version we hear today. A year later, Bach, unwilling to release to the public the same Passion two years in a row, attempted to compose an oratorio Passion with a libretto by Picander. Sadly, he was so pressed for time he ended this endeavor before it started. Instead, as a rather sneaky coverup, edited the Johannespassion, replacing the first chorus, last chorale, and four specific arias. The final product was far more dramatic than the original.

This record is of the second of four versions of the Johannespassion. Unfortunately, because of this, there is no powerful "Herr! Unser Herrscher!" to open the Passion. Instead we have the somewhat tranquil chorale setting of "O Mensch Bewein dein Suende Gross" that we usually hear concluding the first part of Matthauspassion. Once we get over this oddity, hearing this chorale arrangement to open Johannespassion is a wonderful and welcome surprise.

*BUT* don't let this bother you, because we also gain four better, but rarely heard, arias that Bach omitted from the final version and replaced with the less eventful arias we often hear in the standard version. My favorite "new" aria is "Himmel Reisse" for Bass and a soprano chorus that sings the chorale "Jesu, Deine Passion" at the same time. This Part One aria has the same effect as its Part Two counterpart "Mein Trauer Heiland" scored also for bass and chorus. They fit together in the score like puzzle pieces. In effect, this version, presented by Herreweghe, is more united and complete in sound.

We also get the Bach's original Finale Chorale, "Christe, Du Lamm Gottes." Hearing the Johannespassion that Bach edited for 1725 is a great way to explore Bach, especcially with this new sure-to-be classic standard set.

This is a very good Box Set of one of the most perfect and consistently satisfying Johannespassions I've heard. STRONGLY Reccomended!

This is far, the best ST John Passion interpretation I've ever heard, but! the usual first mov. "Herr! Unser Herrscher!" is missing in this "second of four versions" among the John's Passion by Bach. Needless to say, I was very disappointed, because one-third of the reason I bought this CDs was because I wanted to hear Herreweghe's interpretation of that particular movement. If you are planning to purchase this recording with similar expectation, you will be somewhat disappointed.

This is certainly one of the best Saint John Passions to be found on record, and I totally agree with the enthusiasm of the other reviewers over this recording.As such I have nothing to add...
Unfortunately, the presentation text by Herr Thomas Seedorf is totally misleading!True, this is the 1725 version of this masterpiece, but when Seedorf pretends that this is a revision of the commonly known version, he is completely off the track. In fact, the definitive version, the one published as BWV 245 by the Bach Gesellschaft, is A REVISION OF THIS VERSION!So when Seedorf writes "...this prompted the composer to replace the original framing choruses(Herr, unser Herrscher and Ach Herr, lass dein lieb Engelein) with two large-scale chorale arrangements in this 1725 score.", he is reversing the historical facts. In addition to the Grove Dictionary of Music, I have three books on Bach by three eminent scholars: Albert Schweitzer, Karl Geiringer and Jacques Chailley, the last one being exclusively devoted to Bach's Passions. Well, they all agree that the BWV 245 score, which is the definitive version, is based on the 1725 version, but with certain sections having been removed and replaced by other pieces.Among these sections, the "tender chorale arrangement, which formed the beginning of the St.John Passion, was replaced by an imposing chorus which expressed in a grandiose fashion the fundamental idea of the Passion: the celestial power opposed to the terrestrial suffering. Bach canceled also the aria "Ach windet euch"(BWV 245c) and replaced it with one of the summits of the work, the arioso Betrachte meine Seele and the aria that follows, Erwaege"(my own translation of the French Geiringer text). Schweitzer and Chailley are of the same opinion. For Chailley, "we possess three arias withdrawn fom the original version.They were published as Appendices in the Bach-Gesellschaft.One, Himmelreisse, followed choral No 15;another, Zerschmettert mich, was replaced by aria No.10;the arioso for bass No.17, Betrachte Mein Seel' and the aria for tenor that follows,No.18, Erwaege, took the place of a tenor aria, Ach windet euch.In addition, the magnificent chorus of introduction, Herr unser Herrscher was written later to replace the development of the choral O Mensch bewein which previously opened the St John in E-flat and which, transposed in E natural, became the final chorus of the first part of St.Matthew."(Also my translation from Chailley's French text).This is all perfectly clear... So it is impossible to follow Seedorf in this totally misleading presentation.
When I purchased this wonderful recording, some time ago, I wrote to Harmonia Mundi telling them about this, and they acknowledged my mail. But I don't know if they are actually going to do something about it, except maybe revise the presentation text for the next edition of this CD box. At any rate, I hope they will, because it should be unacceptable for them to provide their customers with wrong information...

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