Bach: St. Matthew Passion / Gustav Leonhardt, La Petite Bande, others

I would like to introduce the ones I have compared at this point.

① La Petite Bande (Gustav Leonhardt) 1989
② Concentus Musicus Wien (Nikolaus Harnoncourt) 1970
③ Concentus Musicus Wien (Nikolaus Harnoncourt) 2000
④ Academia Jacobus Stainerr (Johannes Stecher) 2021
⑤ Orchestra Of The 18th Century (Frans Brüggen) 1996
⑥ Collegium Vocale Gent (Philippe Herreweghe) 1984
⑦ Bach Collegium Japan (Masaaki Suzuki) 1999
⑧ English Baroque Soloists (John Eliot Gardiner) 1988
⑨ English Baroque Soloists (John Eliot Gardiner) 2017
⑩ Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (René Jacobs) 2013
⑪ La Petite Bande (Sigiswald Kuijken) 2009
⑫ Ensemble Pygmalion (Raphaël Pichon) 2022
⑬ Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (Ton Koopman) 1992
⑭ Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (Ton Koopman) 2006
⑮ Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (Riccardo Chailly, using modern instruments) 1999
⑯ Münchener Bach-Orchester (Karl Richter) 1959

The tempo of the chorus in the first piece, which depicts Jesus walking unsteadily while carrying a heavy cross, is interpreted in various ways depending on the era and conductor, but when comparing the two, the results are as follows. Gustav Leonhardt’s 1989 recording is seemed to be “moderate” for me and I used this tempo as the standard for comparison. The 1970 Harnoncourt recording is almost as moderate as the Leonhardt recording. The 2000 recording has a slightly faster tempo than the 1970 recording. The Johannes Stecher recording is quite fast, probably because it was recorded more recently. Herreweghe, Gardiner, Kuijken, Pichon, and Koopman all have relatively fast tempos, but they are by no means abnormal. I had expected Koopman to play faster, so this was a bit of a surprise. However, what was even more surprising was the 1999 recording by Riccardo Chailly, which is performed on modern instruments, but has an extremely fast tempo (faster than, for example, Christian Fliegener). Finally, the 1959 recording by Karl Richter is, naturally, the slowest tempo, which is understandable given its era.

① (Gustav Leonhardt) 1989…moderate
② (Nikolaus Harnoncourt) 1970…moderate (fast) 1970
③ (Nikolaus Harnoncourt) 2000…faster than the 1970 recording
④ (Johannes Stecher) 2021…faster
⑤ (Frans Brüggen) 1996…moderate
⑥ (Philippe Herreweghe) 1998…slightly faster
⑦ (Masaaki Suzuki) 2020…moderate
⑧ (John Eliot Gardiner) 1988…slightly faster
⑨ (John Eliot Gardiner) 2017…slightly faster
⑩ (René Jacobs) 2013…moderate
⑪ (Sigiswald Kuijken) 2009…slightly faster
⑫ (Raphaël Pichon) 2022…slightly faster
⑬ (Ton Koopman) 1992…slightly faster
⑭ (Ton Koopman) 2006…slightly faster
⑮ (Riccardo Chailly) 1999…fast (although not historical style)
⑯ (Karl Richter) 1959…slow

Evangelist
① (Gustav Leonhardt) 1989…Christoph Prégardien
② (Nikolaus Harnoncourt) 1970…Kurt Equiluz
③ (Nikolaus Harnoncourt) 2000…Christoph Prégardien
④ (Johannes Stecher) 2021…David Kerber
⑤ (Frans Brüggen) 1996…Nico van der Meel
⑥ (Philippe Herreweghe) 1998…Ian Bostridge
⑦ (Masaaki Suzuki) 2020…Gerd Türk
⑧ (John Eliot Gardiner) 1988…Anthony Rolfe-Johnson
⑨ (John Eliot Gardiner) 2017…James Gilchrist
⑩ (René Jacobs) 2013…Werner Güra
⑪ (Sigiswald Kuijken) 2009…Christoph Genz
⑫ (Raphaël Pichon) 2022…Julian Prégardien
⑬ (Ton Koopman) 1992…Guy de Mey
⑭ (Ton Koopman) 2006…Jörg Dürmüller
⑮ (Riccardo Chailly) 1999…Johannes Chum
⑯ (Karl Richter) 1959…Ernst Haefliger

Jesus
① (Gustav Leonhardt) 1989…Max van Egmond
② (Nikolaus Harnoncourt) 1970…Karl Ridderbusch
③ (Nikolaus Harnoncourt) 2000…Matthias Goerne
④ (Johannes Stecher) 2021… Oliver Sailer
⑤ (Frans Brüggen) 1996… Kristinn Sigmundsson
⑥ (Philippe Herreweghe) 1998… Franz-Josef Selig
⑦ (Masaaki Suzuki) 2020… Peter Kooy
⑧ (John Eliot Gardiner) 1988… Andreas Schmidt
⑨ (John Eliot Gardiner) 2017… Stephan Loges
⑩ (René Jacobs) 2013… Johannes Weisser
⑪ (Sigiswald Kuijken) 2009… Jan van der Crabben
⑫ (Raphaël Pichon) 2022… Stéphane Degout
⑬ (Ton Koopman) 1992…Peter Kooy
⑭ (Ton Koopman) 2006…Ekkehard Abele
⑮ (Riccardo Chailly) 1999…Detlef Roth
⑯ (Karl Richter) 1959…Kiesh Engen

The Evangelist is the so-called “protagonist” of Bach’s Passion. This role has been played by many excellent tenors, past and present. ①③ Christoph Prégardien, in particular, is outstanding in both Gustav Leonhardt’s 1989 recording and Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s 2000 recording. This role requires an unemotional, extremely objective expression. I think I’ve written this somewhere before, but ④ David Kerber’s recording by Johannes Stecher is a recent recording from 2021, but I feel that the emotional expression is too intense and a bit old-fashioned. It may be a matter of personal preference. ⑥ Ian Bostridge who is my favorite tenor especialy for Schubert’s lieder, but he’s also quite good as the Evangelist. Wikipedia says ⑫ Julian Prégardien is the son of ① Christoph Prégardien.

Now, Jesus, especially in Richter’s recording, is often sung with an overly expressive, or, to put it bluntly, arrogant feel. Instead, I like singers who sing in a gentle, embracing way. No one can be more highly rated for this kind of singing style than ① Max van Egmond. This is one of the reasons why the 1989 Leonhardt recording, recorded by him and ① Prégardien, is called a historic masterpiece. The other hand, he is in charge of the aria in the 1970 Harnoncourt recording, so in that sense, this is a hard CD to throw away too.

Soprano, alto, chorus

Finally, the other soloists and chorus can be broadly divided into three types:
A. Performances using boys for both the solo and chorus
B. Performances using boys only in the choir
C. Performances using women for both the solo and chorus (nclude boys in the choral chorale in the first movement)

Unfortunately, there is no A. in ① to ⑯. In Leonhardt’s 1989 recording, a member of the Tölzer Knabenchor boy sang the soprano solo, in Harnoncourt’s 1970 recording, a member of the Wiener Sängerknaben boy sang the Wiener Sängerknaben boy sang the soprano solo, but in all cases, a countertenor is used for the alto solo.

B. is only Riccardo Chailly’s 1999 recording (Thomanerchor Leipzig, Tölzer Knabenchor).

C. is Harnoncourt’s 2000 recording (Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Wiener Sängerknaben), Brüggen’s 1996 recording (Netherlands Chamber Choir, Boys Choir Of St. Bavo Cathedra), Gardiner’s 1988 recording (Monteverdi Choir, The London Oratory Junior Choir) and 2017 recording (Monteverdi Choir, Trinity Boys Choir), Koopman’s 1992 recording (Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Sacramentskoor Breda), and Koopman’s 2006 recording.

Well, my conclusion is that I would recommend two: ① (Gustav Leonhardt) from 1989 and ② (Nikolaus Harnoncourt) from 1970. In addition, even though it is an old recording, Harnoncourt’s 1970 recording has a very dramatic stereo effect. It is a masterpiece that shows the high level of Teldec’s recording technology.

P.S.; There was one last thing I had to mention. That is “OVPP” (One Person Per Part in Choir). Joshua Rifkin is said to be an advocate of this idea, and Andrew Parrott is a promoter of it. It started to become popular at the end of the last century, and it seems that there are still a certain number of supporters today. Among the ones compared this time, ⑪ (Sigiswald Kuijken) 2009 is practicing this. If I were to give my opinion here, I would be skeptical of OVPP. There must have been many members in the St. Thomas Church choir even back then. Some skipped practice, some got sick and couldn’t perform, so surplus personnel were always needed to deal with these issues. It would be natural to assume that replacements, including soloists, were always prepared. Therefore, the basis for Rifkin’s and Parrott’s theories is weak. Some people say that there was in almost case, only one handwritten part music copy at the time (I don’t know if that’s true or not). But even if it was true, up to three people could have looked at one sheet of music together. #baroque #bach #passion #片山俊幸