Bach, J S: St John Passion, BWV245 (Johannes-Passion)

“naturalness and emotional honesty are what emerge from this tight-knit and perfectly paced ensemble Passion, in which Bach's complex succession of recitatives, arias, choruses and chorales has surely seldom sounded so convincingly of a piece...[the singers] come across as a gathering of real people rather than a disembodied chorus. The fact that you can sometimes recognise a soloist's voice within the mix only adds to the impression of reality.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2013

“The artists themselves bring pleasure, unless you’re allergic to the idiosyncratic, rather peevish tone of the tenor Nicholas Mulroy...Would that there were more chances to hear the soprano Joanne Lunn, clear as a bell, daisy-fresh. Around and about, Matthew Brook’s Jesus, the Dunedin Consort and their director John Butt attack the music with customary verve. Intimacy, too: the Consort choir numbers eight” The Times, 15th March 2013 ***

“a dramatic, exactingly nuanced, profoundly considered reading, compelling in its integrity and text-driven immediacy...Mulroy's firmly-contoured Evangelist balances the musical and narrative imperatives of the recitatives with judicious sensitivity...Brooks's Christus stands up to the crowd with a dignified yet firm resolve and hallowed charisma..Butt's contextualising demands to be heard: it's nothing short of a revelation” BBC Music Magazine, April 2013 *****

“a really fine, taut, mainly single-voice account of Bach's music – led by Nicholas Mulroy's powerful Evangelist and Matthew Brook's affecting Christ – which somehow acquires new power for emerging from its spartan surroundings. John Butt's research and direction are an object lesson in musical study brought to compelling life.” The Observer, 24th March 2013

“Not only is this an exceptionally fine small-scale performance and recording with scholarly but readable notes, it attempts to bring us closer to the way in which the original listeners experienced the passion on Good Friday” MusicWeb International, March 2013

“The recording is a significant landmark in authentic Bach performance, but at the same time it's refreshingly relaxed around the edges (Butt doesn't pretend to have recreated the exact 1724 service, because there's no way of knowing what that was)” The Herald (Glasgow), March 2013

“the choral singing is wonderfully pure, buoyant and transparent...I found [the add-ons] stimulating and musically all-of-a-piece.” Financial Times, March 2013

“Linn offers a fascinating extra dimension.” Sunday Times, 31st March 2013

“[Bostridge is] a magnificent Evangelist though one aspect of his approach may not be to all tastes. He is highly expressive at all times and there are several occasions where some may feel he overdoes the expressiveness..Polyphony show vividly just what can be achieved in Bach singing by a fairly small professional choir, especially in terms of such things as flexibility, attack and agility...This desirable new recording deserves a place in the front rank.” MusicWeb International, February 2013

“Layton has honed his preferred version, but only aficionados will notice or mind. Concentrate instead on the purity of sound, the emotionally expressive yet restrained performance by all and the impeccable attention to text of the soloists. Ian Bostridge (Evangelist) lives every word of the narration but never over dramatises. Countertenor Iestyn Davies's almost disembodied account of Es ist vollbracht! (It is finished!) is unforgettable.” The Observer, 3rd March 2013

“the choral singing is wonderfully pure, buoyant and transparent...Ian Bostridge’s Evangelist, mannered and occasionally stretched but full of “narrative” character, dominates Layton’s performance” Financial Times, 9th March 2013 ***

“when Bach’s goal is mellifluous comfort, as in the final chorus, Ruht wohl, Polyphony wins hands down.” The Times, 15th March 2013 ****

“this new recording's credentials border on the unassailable...Layton's pacing is compelling - there's no mistaking the gambling fever as the soldiers cast lots for Christ's garment...[Neal Davies] reserves a melting tenderness for the utterances from the cross. It's crowned by Iestyn Davies's sublime account of 'Es ist vollbracht'...Both Carolyn Sampson's arias are priceless.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2013 ****

“this St John Passion brings to the fore the traits of style and taste that are distinguished hallmarks of Layton and the forces he gathers around him...Bostridge is the tenor Evangelist, eloquent, pure of tone, fluent and strong in communicating the import of the German narrative...The choir sings with a well-rounded sound, firm accents and with diction that brings the text crisply to life” The Telegraph, 22nd March 2013 *****

“about as state-of-the-art a Bach Passion recording as you'll hear...Take as read the urgency, clarity, balance and delamatory unanimity of the chorus...Layton's reality is about cultivating the focus of each sentiment with supreme corporate executancy...Bostridge is the master story-teller who surveys all about him.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2013

“The 1725 revision of the St John, very different from Bach's first and later versions. Superb Evangelist and soloists, though the 16-strong chorus lacks bite in its role as the self-righteously angry 'crowd'.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2012 ***

“Van der Meel is a seasoned Bachian and he guides us with unselfregarding aplomb, though this is ultimately a safe and relatively uneventful reading...The Evangelism is deftly pointed but observational rather than inhabited...but the pick of the crop is the ever-improving Maarten Engeltjes, whose 'Es ist vollbracht' is a genuinely affecting set piece enhanced by fine gamba-playing.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2012

“The chorus sing lightly, and in some of the turbae have a tendency to peck at the notes....The instrumental players are all a credit and provide neat accompaniment and some very fine instrumental solos...If you are interested in Bach’s surprisingly different second version of the piece, then certainly you should hear this disc.” MusicWeb International, July 2012

“When you hear the ominous first chorus of Bach's St John Passion sung and played like this, liturgical ritual and visceral human drama make for an unusually intense experience. The bass line pulsates, the boys articulate the words with supreme clarity and the steady speed provides the movement with just the right length – a consideration too often neglected.
Recorded in New College, Oxford, the resident choristers, choral scholars and lay clerks appear to be entirely at ease with the special juxtaposition of quicksilver action and warm reflection which Bach demands in his choruses and chorales.
Edward Higginbottom delivers a palpable sense of narrative, unfussy, as if habit lies at the root of its being. Just listen to the searing choral chromaticisms as Christ is brought before Caiaphas, the startlingly urgent declamations as the crowd bays for blood or the distraught tenderness of James Bowman in 'Es ist vollbracht'.
The Evangelist is the established tenor James Gilchrist, whose alert and straightforward singing makes his performance wholly believable.
Of the current generation of choristers, Joe Littlewood reminds us that English choirboys can sing German music beautifully and convey the emotional essence of the text with maturity and purpose. His 'Ich folge' is a delight.
There's the odd strain in Matthew Beale's testing tenor arias but a pleasing timbre, as indeed there is in John Bernays' proud but unblustering Christus. If there's a general tendency, it's to allow the music to speak in its own time within a relaxed beat. The rest is instinct, experience and letting what will be, be. In such light comes this refreshing and captivating new interpretation.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

““Edward Higginbottom is one of those rare musicians who can balance projects of genuine popular appeal with the key masterpieces of the choral repertoire. With this Naxos set of the St John Passion he could potentially reach his largest audience yet… especially with the glorious singing of the now world- renowned Choir of New College, Oxford.” Gramophone Magazine

“an outstanding period performance which can stand comparison with any in the catalogue...The choir itself is fresh and bright, singing incisively, with the crowd choruses vividly adding to the drama...Gilchrist is a superb Evangelist, fluent and expressive, and the main quartet of soloists makes a sensitive team.” Penguin Guide, 2010 ***

“Britten characteristically refuses to follow any set tradition, whether Baroque, Victorian or whatever, and, with greater extremes of tempo than is common (often strikingly fast), the result makes one listen afresh...A superb bargain.” Penguin Guide, 2010 ***

“Gardiner conducts an exhilarating performance. Speeds are regularly on the fast side but, characteristically, he consistently keeps a spring in their rhythm. Chorales are treated in contrasted ways...Soloists - regular contributors to Gardiner's team - are all first-rate. Warm and atmospheric, yet clear and detailed recording.” Penguin Guide, 2010 ***