Philippe Herreweghe, Collegium Vocale Gent - Johann Sebastian Bach: Oster-Oratorium (1999)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 302 Mb | Total time: 72:36 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Harmonia Mundi | # HMX 2951513 | Recorded: 1995
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 302 Mb | Total time: 72:36 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Harmonia Mundi | # HMX 2951513 | Recorded: 1995
Once in while a recording comes along in which the performers, producers, and recording team get everything right. This is one of them. First issued in 1995, this production of Bach’s Easter “oratorium” easily can claim supremacy among several very good alternatives. Largely cobbled from an earlier secular cantata for a duke’s birthday, the music is some of Bach’s most poignant while being alternately festive and meditative. There are no “roles” as we find in the Passions, no Evangelist-type recitatives, no chorales, and there’s no real dramatic story line. Instead, we visit a particular scene–Peter, John, and the two Marys discover the empty tomb and contemplate its meaning.