Bach: St Matthew Passion

***
Bach for its time 10 Mar 2008

I was once in a pub and overheard a conversation between two elderly chaps, who were praising the virtues of the organ in the church next door (where I had just spent a rather hungover couple of hours rather wishing it would play a little quieter), and they both agreed that "it plays Bach wonderfully". This gave me pause for thought: the instrument is indeed well suited in tone and colour to the energy and counterpoint of Bach's fugues, but surely they have missed the point - it is the player who plays Bach well, not the instrument. Perhaps the same could be said of this version. The singers are, as the other reviewer remarks, the finest of their generation, but Klemperer ultimately uses them in such a fashion as to make the experience of listening to this an exercise more in endurance, rather than a moving spiritual journey.

I have awarded the disc 3 stars, and each of them is well and truly deserved. The most prominent role is of course that of the Evangelist, sung by Peter Pears, who restricts himself to telling the story without too many histrionics or drawing too much attention to himself (it is hard, though, to agree with the other reviewer, who describes Pears as "castrato" - if anything, that term could apply to Bostridge on the more recent recording by Herreweghe. Pears sings with a full tone throughout, and very impressive it is too.) Moreover, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's Christus is a revelation: it is common practice nowadays for Christus to be dark and massive-toned, but the writing itself suggests a baritone, rather than a bass, should sing the role (there are too many top E's for a low bass to be really comfortable.) The result is that Dieskau introduces a calmly reflective quality to the character that is most welcome. Think saving victim, rather than the Church mililtant. The other soloists are also first-rank in every case. Schwarzkopf is a model of control and beautiful tone; Christa Ludwig is gorgeous (if a little swoopy); Gedda is stunning and Walter Berry sings wonderfully. It is interesting to reflect that these were (with the exception of Pears and Dieskau), first and foremost singers of opera, yet the size of their voices does not get in the way at all of the music - rather, it allows more colour and flexibility, especially at the extreme ends of the range, than many modern specialist baroque singers, (and it could be said that this criticism applies more to singers of 20 years ago than now), who often possess one colour which quickly runs out into harshness when drama is called for. It reminds me a little of the recordings Karl Richter made in the 1960s with singers from the Stuttgart Opera.

However, therein lies the difference: Richter was happy to carry over the excitement, colour, and even adrenalin from the operatic stage into his Bach, and it made for a thrilling result. Not, perhaps, as we would do it today, but nonetheless thrilling. Klemperer, however, has taken a different line, opting for reverence over excitement. The other reviewer clearly likes this very much (saying they project "the words with meaning and feeling in good German diction"), but to my ears what they perceive as feeling for the text is in fact an approach that drains the work of dramatic intensity, which cannot be compensated for by good enunciation. In short, it is far too slow, even allowing for the taste of the time, and the opening chorus can only be said to lumber, rather than pulse with menace, as it should. While the soloists are capable of sustaining the arias, the choruses are by and large very dull: where all the meaning of the text is crying out for a dramatic outpouring of sound, the effect is simply pedestrian. Sadly, this is the undoing of the whole disc.

So can I recommend this recording? There is, indeed, much here that no modern conductor could ever even hope to achieve, largely owing to the remarkable range of voices on display. However, it is simply too slow to be genuinely moving. So who should buy it? If you already own other recordings, this is a fascinating insight into how Bach was performed before the "rediscovery" of early music at the end of the 1960s, and the singers recommend themselves with no further qualification needed. However, if you do not yet know this work, I urge you to look elsewhere, perhaps to Gardiner's recording with Rolfe-Johnson as the evangelist, or to Herreweghe's newer disc (marred only by the choice of Ian Bostridge as the storyteller). I myself look forward with great interest to when the outstanding Balthasar-Neumann-Chor from Germany decide to undertake this project.