Bach: St. John Passion, BWV 245

John Eliot Gardiner - English Baroque Soloists - Monteverdi Choir

Released on 04/03/2022 by Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Main artists: English Baroque Soloists Monteverdi Choir John Eliot Gardiner
Genre: Classical

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Never two without three. With this release on the Deutsche Grammophon label, Sir John Eliot Gardiner offers his third recording of Passion according to Saint-Jean by Johann Sebastian Bach. It comes thirty-five years after his first attempt with Archiv Produktion (1985) and ten years after his incredible rendition with his Soli Deo Gloria label (2011). The choir is entrusted with the task of building dramatic tension, perhaps even more so than in the Passion According to Saint-Matthieu.

What a choir it is! The Monteverdi Choir is a dramatic presence here, and they are breathtakingly captivating. The chorales are majestically brought to life using intricate polyphonic textures with incredible readability; the beautiful lines, subtle nuances and diversity of the German verb inflections almost demand admiration. The choir perfectly captures every inch of expressive matter contained in Wer hat dich so geschlagen (No. 11). Later, at the heart of the rendition (und die Kriegsknechte flochten eine Krone von Dornen, Die Jüden aber schrieen und sprachen), the choir reaches a whole new level. Everything about this sacred drama feels grandiose, majestic and immense, though not without little shades of mischief (Mein teurer Heiland, lass dich fragen).

Just when it feels like the choir has harnessed all its musical power, along come the final two pieces. Ruht wohl, ihr heiligen Gebeine is thoughtfully slow and rejects all unnecessary excess. The music, with its transparent textures, dazzles with its flexible dramatic arc. To our great delight, Gardiner extends this piece to nearly eight minutes. In the final chorale Ach Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein? Gardiner reproduces the compelling sound of his opening chorus. It’s the loud cry of Christianity, of the tender and redeeming love of Christ.

The Monteverdi Choir shines in this rendition. Their fresh take on these pieces succeeds in making Bach’s work feel all the more inexhaustible. This release will cement the Monteverdi Choir as legends. Nevertheless, this release isn’t without its disappointments: the solo vocalists lack expressivity, and the tones are often unremarkable, save for that of the soprano who is quite brilliant. However, these faults soon fade into unimportance. Everything here is to the glory of the choir. © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz

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Bach: St. John Passion, BWV 245

John Eliot Gardiner

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Johannes-Passion, BWV 245 / Part One (Johann Sebastian Bach)

No. 1 "Herr, unser Herrscher"

Monteverdi Choir

00:09:27