J.S. BACH

 

St.Matthew Passion BWV244

 

The Netherlands Bach Society / Jos van Veldhoven

with: Kampen Boys Choir

 

soloists:

Amaryllis Dieltiens -  soprano

Siri Karoline Thornhill - soprano

Tim Mead - altus

Matthew White - altus

Gerd Türk - tenor - Evangelist

Julian Podger - tenor

Charles Daniels - tenor

Peter Harvey - bass

Sebastian Noack – bass

 

After the successful ‘collectors item’ releases of the Christmas Oratorio (2003), St. John Passion (2005) and B minor Mass (2007) performed by the Netherlands Bach Society, Channel Classics now releases a new and very special recording of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (2011).

 

Once again, the recording has been made in collaboration with the Catharijne convent Museum of Utrecht, so that this edition of the St. Matthew Passion is accompanied by a richly illustrated text book. This enables the listener to experience the Passion both in music and images. The illustrations are drawn from the unique collection of the Catharijneconvent Museum, which possesses the largest collection of liturgical art in the Netherlands.

 

According to conductor Jos van Veldhoven ‘there are reasons enough to look at the score in another way than the traditional symmetrical structure. (...) It could very well be a single choir passion based on hierarchy, rather than equality or symmetry (...) I decided to create a spatial arrangement by having a separate stage for each group of musicians, placed some ten metres apart. Some members of the audience even sat between the two choirs, experiencing the dialogue in a very special manner.

 

Channel Classics 2SACDs + Illustrated text book CCSSA32511