JS Bach - St John Passion

[Stanley Stewart]

A timely arrival for Easter. Bach's, St John Passion, Les Musiciens du Louvre/
Marc Minkowski, Erato label. A handsome 88 page booklet includes an interview with Minkowski, An Ensemble Passion. The conductor goes for minimalism if not one-voice-to-a-part 'authenticity', sharing out the solos and choruses between eight singers. The extracts on this morning's Saturday Review makes me eager to hear the two disc set.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

A timely arrival for Easter. Bach's, St John Passion, Les Musiciens du Louvre/
Marc Minkowski, Erato label. A handsome 88 page booklet includes an interview with Minkowski, An Ensemble Passion. The conductor goes for minimalism if not one-voice-to-a-part 'authenticity', sharing out the solos and choruses between eight singers. The extracts on this morning's Saturday Review makes me eager to hear the two disc set.

You make me want to hear this, Stanley - extra Ripieno parts exist for the St John, and the "TVpP" approach is also used in my two favourite recordings of the work (so far!), both from the 1980s - The Scholars Baroque Ensemble, and the Taverner Players conducted by Andrew Parrott.

[Serial_Apologist]

We sang the St John Passion at school. "Oh, can't we do the St Matthew?" I begged our choirmaster.

[ostuni]

The extract I heard on RR this morning certainly made me want to hear more - I'll do some Qobuz streaming during the next week. I've played in three SJPs this season (including one last night): the 2VPP one a couple of weeks ago was certainly the most satisfying in terms of vocal clarity (though the boys of Gloucester Cathedral last night were thrillingly incisive in the turbae).

[rauschwerk]

Solomon's Knot did it last night at Snape and very fine it was too, with eight singers (all doing it from memory) and 14 instrumentalists. In that space it made a great impression on me, though I thought that to go on for two hours without an interval was a bit much.