Thomas Quasthoff

Recorded live at the Philharmonie Berlin on 11th April 2010

It is no surprise that Sir Simon would one day tackle this most comprehensive of Bach’s compositions in view of his much applauded interpretation of the St. John Passion in 2006. The Berliner Morgenpost wrote at the time: “A performance of this musical calibre renders superfluous all questions about authenticity and historical performance practice. At the Philharmonie Sir Simon Rattle and his orchestra performed the St. John Passion [...] with highly concentrated and flawless beauty devoid of any distorting indulgence.”

German daily Die Welt hailed this performance of the St. Matthew Passion as “Simon Rattle’s Easter miracle,” and The Guardian in the UK wrote: “I challenge you not to be an emotional wreck by the end of it: the singers, especially Mark Padmore as the Evangelist, give the performance of their lives; Sellars sensitively connects the Passion story with the performances and the audience, without distorting Bach’s drama; and Rattle and his players are collectively raised to spooky, spiritual levels of inspiration.”

Both the double-disc DVD and Blu-ray editions contain booklets with introductory texts, biographies and photos. Bonus footage includes a conversation between Peter Sellars and Simon Halsey, conductor of the Rundfunkchor Berlin.

Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese

Running time: 195 mins (concert); 51 mins (bonus feature)

Picture format: 1080i Full HD 16.9

Audio formats: PCM Stereo

DTS-HD

Master Audio 5.1

Please Note: JAPAN - Due to contractual reasons I'm afraid we are not allowed to sell this product to customers in Japan.

Thomas Quasthoff’s great artistry needs no introduction. Here he follows up his much-raised Bach Cantatas recording with another project perfectly suited to his dark-hued, flexible voice. In anticipation of the forthcoming Haydn year – the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death falls in May 2009 – Quasthoff turns his attention to the Viennese master’s considerable operatic output, with an album of arias drawn from both Haydn’s comic and serious operas.

Making its Deutsche Grammophon debut on this album is the Freiburger Barockorchester, the internationally acclaimed period-instrument ensemble which regularly collaborates with Quasthoff and many other leading artists. This is music of the highest calibre. Haydn’s operatic works are a real rarity and with Thomas Quasthoff as their champion this will be one of the most unusual and intriguing albums of the year. It is a must-have for lovers of period-instrument performance, opera and baroque music – as well as for all those touched by Quasthoff’s musicianship.

The album release is timed to tie in with the first of 4 UK appearances which Quastoff will make during 2009 at London’s Barbican Centre.

Ludwig van Beethoven attempted to compose a number of works for the stage but only one opera was completed and that took three versions to reach its definitive form. The first had its premiere in November 1805, was entitled Leonore and was in three acts (with overture Leonore No. 2); the second in March 1806 was still entitled Leonore but now in two acts (with overture Leonore No. 3). The final version did not appear for eight years by which time he had also written another overture – entitled Leonore No. 1. This version had the new and final title and the overture Fidelio. Throughout his life Beethoven had sought to compose music which would praise freedom, valour and the brotherhood of mankind and the story of a wife’s bravery in seeking out her husband in a tyrant’s jail gives full rein to his musical genius. Sir Simon Rattle conducted the new production at Glyndebourne in 2001 and then recorded the work in Berlin with his orchestra and a first rate list of soloists in April 2003.