Bach's St. Matthew Passion

It being Easter, I cooked myself a leg of lamb, and listened to Bach's St Matthew Passion. There are worse ways of celebrating an Easter weekend in England. Except I over-cooked the lamb. When it comes to recordings of the Matthew Passion, I have Herreweghe (1994, and 2008), Klemperer (1961), Richter (1958), Harnoncourt (2000). For my Easter listening this year, I selected the 2008 recording by Philippe Herreweghe. Bach's music does not demand a demonic maestro in charge. It needs someone to set the tempi, to adjust the balance, to control the dynamics, to maintain the flow of the music. It needs good vocal soloists, and good instrumentalists. In the era of recording technology, we can also add recorded balance and overall recording expertise. I listened happily to the Herreweghe recording.

The hero of the day was Johann Sebastian Bach. The St. Matthew Passion is one of the highest peaks of all western classical music, along with the Mass in B minor. At times in his cantatas, Bach would appear to be composing by numbers (but to a very high standard). Not with the St. Matthew Passion; this is Bach putting all his immense skill and genius into nearly three solid hours of great music. From the initial Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen, until the final Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder, we listen in enthralled amazement.

Casts on rival recordings include Christoph Prégardien, Bernarda Fink, Christiane Schäfer, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig, Ernst Haefliger, and Irmgard Seefried. Herreweghe II has a good cast, including Ian Bostridge, Andreas Scholl, Werner Güra, and Dietrich Henschel. No quibbles about that. My equipment allows me to adjust the volume at the press of a button. If I had a speed button, I'd occasionally press it for minus 6 percent. That's about the only criticism I can come up with for Herreweghe II. And no criticisms whatsoever for Bach's music.