BACH

Matthaus-Passion

 

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra / Riccardo Chailly

 

The great orchestra of Bach's own city of Leipzig in a glorious new recording of his choral masterpiece

Played on modern instruments, Chailly’s Bach beautifully demonstrates that vivid, stylistically aware performance is not the exclusive preserve of period instrument ensembles

Distinguished German vocal soloists, including acclaimed bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff, rise gloriously to the challenges of Bach’s exalted score

The choir parts are thrillingly sung by two of Germany's most celebrated boys' choirs - the Thomanerchor Leipzig and the Tölzer Knabenchor

Part of a trio of Bach releases that also includes the Brandenburg Concertos (January 2010) and Christmas Oratorio (November 2010)

 

Press Quotes - following the performance of the St. Matthew Passion at the Barbican, London:

 

“Cultural life in Bach's city has been transformed by the arrival of Riccardo Chailly...In three years he has taken a sleeping giant and galvanised it into one of the world's most responsive and passionate major orchestras” The Times, London

 

“A crystalline transparency that clarified tiny details while giving full weight to mighty climaxes” London Evening Standard

 

“...brought the sellout audience to its feet and had the critics grasping for superlatives” Times Online

 

“The seriousness of the preparation, the rightness of the style, and a palpable sense of awe in the service of this great and challenging work illuminated every page” The Independent

 

“Riccardo Chailly seemed to have inhaled long, deep breaths of the Leipzig tradition, for every moment of pacing, every tempo sounded so right, so inevitable, that one could hardly imagine it any other way” The Times, London

 

Decca 2cds 4782194