Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion is, along with the St. Matthew Passion, without doubt one of the most important works he ever composed. It established a new tradition for Good Friday vespers in Leipzig, and with sublime skill Bach managed to retain a spirit of church worship while creating an almost operatic narrative that movingly depicts Christ’s trial, death, and ultimate apotheosis. Bach’s numerous revisions always demand a certain amount of scholarly decision-making, and this recording of the St. John Passion uses the final 1749 version that not only draws on and reinforces the best of Bach’s original concept, but incorporates the additional movements of the 1725 version.

Heinrich Schütz spent his whole life searching for that which is new in music. The Symphoniae Sacrae I, which were presented in 1629, also testify to this. Schütz composed them as a result of the impressions made upon him by his second journey to Venice. In addition to the numerous Italian stylistic traits which can be traced back to Monteverdi, the 20 concertos - all in Latin - particularly impress with their great variety of timbres: solo pieces, duets and trios for all voice type are combined with diverse string and wind instruments are are governed by the emotional and expressive world of the text. The recording impressively continues the award-winning Schütz complete recording with the Dresdner Kammerchor conducted by Hans-Christoph Radermann with the customary top-quality soloists such as Dorothee Mields, Felix Schwandtke and others.

It is remarkable that Theodora, this gem of an Oratorio, whose musical quality Handel himself considered to be particularly outstanding, seems to be largely unknown to professional musicians and the expert audience. This is even more astonishing as this masterpiece (in the versions of its first performance lasting nearly three hours) is definitely an absolute highlight of Handel’s creative work, not least because of its splendidly differentiated orchestration and the psychologically sensitive presentation of its protagonists. To contribute to rescuing this three-act composition from totally undeserved obscurity and to adapt it to the time frame of today’s concert business was the reason for Ralf Otto to arrange the version presented on this recording – a version which was enthusiastically received by the audience whenever performed live. The recording scores additionally with the currently best cast for the title role: Hana Blažiková.

Heinrich Schütz composed his last work, a monumental setting of Psalm 119, in 1671 at the age of 86, complemented by a setting of Psalm 100, and a setting of the German Magnificat. This group of works, known as the “Schwanengesang”, or “swansong”, is a highly personal musical declaration, distinguished by its elegance and spiritual depth. As part of the Schütz Complete Recording, the Dresdner Kammerchor conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann has again made a recording which sets new standards, presenting both the sung and the expressive elements of the composition in exemplary fashion. This recording of the fragmentary-surviving Schwanengesang is based on a new edition of the music by Werner Breig, published in November 2017 as part of the Stuttgart Schütz Edition. In many passages it suggests other approaches to reconstruction from the version published in 1984, and so approaches the Schwanengesang in a completely different way.

In 2010 the world is celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, whose music – for the most disparate reasons – was for a long time shrouded in oblivion. Many of his works disappeared completely after the Second World War and it was not until 1999 that they were rediscovered in Kiev. The present world-premiere recording of four of his cantatas grants us a fascinating insight into the composer's output and invites us to join him on a musical voyage of discovery. These ambitious works, which were written for Christmas and Ascension, attest to the technical and musical virtuosity of Johann Sebastian Bach's eldest son.

"The Bach Choir gave the impression of excellent preparation: radiant and articulating with total freedom." -- Frankfurter Rundschau

Recorded live at the St. Augustine's Church, Mainz, 1 June 2010

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 85 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

A work caught the attention of musicians during the late 1990s - a Christmas Oratorio by Graun. The only known copy of it was being housed in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. But it has so far been impossible to determine either the name of the manuscript copyist or an exact dating of the work and copy. There are many indications that this is a work from the composer's phase prior to his years in Berlin. After The Death of Jesus, Thomas Gropper and his Arcis Vocalists now proudly present the second oratorio of Graun as a recorded production for OehmsClassics. Since their foundation by their chorus director Thomas Gropper in 2005, the Arcis-Vocalists have taken a firm place among the well-known semi-professional choirs of the city in the high-class and diverse Munich music scene due to their sound quality and the special program design. The project choir consists of about 80 committed singers, who mostly have a sound vocal education. Depending on the work it is flexibly occupied and can count between 30 and 80 members.

J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio was written for the Christmas season of 1734, and although it incorporates music from earlier works it belongs firmly among his timeless large-scale compositions. The development of the oratorio, which was to become a new musical form in Protestant church services at that time, was stimulated by Bach’s compositions, particularly by the unusual form of his six-part Christmas Oratorio. From its famously joyful opening ‘Jauchzet frohlocket’ to the arrival of the Wise Men from the East, this work’s enduring popularity has long proven its status as a choral ‘evergreen.’ For the conductor Ralf Otto, flexibility, diversity and transparency of sound have always been essential to his work with choirs and orchestras. The conductor’s reputation is based on his gift for interpreting different musical styles, from the Renaissance through the music of today. This recording follows the April 2018 release of Bach’s St. John Passion with the Bach Choir and Orchestra of Mainz conducted by Ralf Otto. MusicWeb International wrote: “the Bachchor Mainz is a fine ensemble: it shows great flexibility in those turbae which are performed at a high speed, and produces a surprisingly transparent sound, also thanks to the good acoustic of the Christuskirche in Mainz.”

The twelfth part of the acclaimed complete recording of works by Heinrich Sch�tz contains the Symphoniae sacrae III. With this recording, the Dresdner Kammerchor under Hans-Christoph Rademann, supported by well-known soloists, has devoted itself to one of the pinnacles of German early Baroque music. No lesser person than Johannes Brahms presented "Saul, was verfolgst du mich?" to the discerning 19th century Viennese public, causing an outright musical sensation and impressively substantiating the modernity of Heinrich Sch�tz's oeuvre. Even today the Symphoniae sacrae III continue to remain a legacy whose music, with it's abundance of musical ideas, tonal splendor, intricacy and sensuality, has the power to overwhelm, stir up emotions, cause reflection, astonish and comfort.

SCHÜTZ Kleine geistliche Konzerte I • Ludger Rémy (org, cond); Ulrike Hofbauer (sop); Dorothee Mields (sop); David Erler (ct); Alexander Schneider (ct); Tobias Mäthger (ten); Georg Poplutz (ten); Felix Schwandtke (bs); Cornelius Uhle (bs); Andreas Wolf (bs); Stefan Maass (thb); Matthias Müller (vne) • CARUS 83.254 (71:32 Text and Translation)


The seventh volume of Carus-Verlag’s complete works of Heinrich Schütz, recordings based on their printed edition, makes no mention among the performers of Hans-Christoph Rademann, the director of the ensemble in previous issues, but he is pictured as the artistic director of the project. Carus-Verlag took over the Stuttgart edition of the printed complete works in 1992, and its website lists 18 volumes of the familiar published works and five volumes of separate pieces, even those with uncertain attributions. For this issue, Ludger Rémy writes a personal note, admitting that as a Catholic he found the music of Schütz alien and stern before he came to understand the times. The 1630s saw Germany as a battleground of the Thirty Years’ War under the guns of Protestant Sweden and Catholic France and the Empire. Schütz had no forces to perform elaborate music such as the Psalms of David, so he had to write for a few voices and continuo. These two volumes appeared in 1636 and 1639, but the composer endowed them with everything he had to create music for worship.


This is the fifth complete set of the music published as op. 8 in 1636. The first set came from Wilhelm Ehmann, at the time highly admired for his stylistic excellence, issued on both Nonesuch and Musical Heritage Society LPs (more recently on Cantate CDs). He was followed by Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden ( Fanfare 13:6), Manfred Cordes (24:1), and Matteo Messori (30:5). All four of these sets were recorded together with the second set of Kleine geistliche Konzerte , op. 9, but we can be sure that Carus will also bring out the second book soon enough. All the sets have been sung by adult mixed voices except Schmidt-Gaden’s boys and men, and one voice to a part except for the optional small chorus at the climax of the last two works in Ehmann’s set. The first four followed the published order, so Carus is the first set to avoid what might be seen as the monotony of four solo works together, 11 duets together, four trios, four quartets, and a final quintet as they occur in the published order. (A similar decision must be made in recording Geistliche Chormusik , an extreme example of how varied the choices can be, as detailed in 31:5.) All used similar continuo accompaniment except Messori, and he omitted it only in six of the 24 pieces. The most notable difference is the choice of tempos, each succeeding set faster than its predecessors by a total of at least several minutes. The times range from Ehmann’s 91 minutes to Carus’s 71 minutes.


Hence, apart from tempo, there is less difference among the five recordings than we find in some other published collections of the composer. Each in turn was welcomed on its merits, even if Cordes is clearly the main competitor to the new offering. In comparing these two conductors in another set (31:2), I expressed a clear preference for Rademann. There is much less difference between the two this time, though Rémy’s ensemble produces brighter interpretations with its faster tempos. The voices are comparably fine, so if you have Cordes already you may choose to skip this entry in the Carus set. A new purchaser will note that this is the first op. 8 on a single disc, since it is the first one fast enough to fit on one. It is a fine continuation of the Carus series.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber

HANDEL Joshua • Peter Neumann, cond; Myung-Hee Hyun ( Achsah ); Alex Potter ( Othniel ); James Gilchrist ( Joshua ); Georg Poplutz ( Angel ); Konstantin Wolff ( Caleb ); Cologne CCh; Collegium Cartusianum (period instruments) • MDG 332 1532 (2 CDs: 122:40 Text and Translation)


Joshua is not one of Handel’s great oratorios. Although it is patterned on the previous year’s Judas Maccabaeus with a perfunctory love story tacked on, Morrell’s mediocre libretto did not inspire Handel to the heights of their earlier collaboration. But there are some very good things in Joshua , and second-rate Handel is better than music from some composers’ top drawer, so Joshua is worthy of the occasional performance and recording.


My only previous encounter with Peter Neumann’s Handel is his excellent Athalia , which I consider the preferred recording of that work. His work here is on the same high level. He paces the work well, giving scrupulous attention to Handel’s tempo markings. In the few da capo arias, ornaments are tasteful and appropriate. Orchestra and chorus perform at a very high level, and one is almost unaware that English is not the choristers’ native tongue.


As with other period-instrument recordings that have come my way in recent months, I am puzzled by the use of continuo keyboards. The organ is sometimes used in place of the harpsichord in recitatives and arias. Neumann even goes further, sometimes using organ, harpsichord, and lute together, contrary to correct historical practice.


The soloists are a very accomplished group. James Gilchrist, one of only two native English soloists, is excellent as Joshua. He is very responsive to the words he is singing, projecting what drama there is in his role when he is given the opportunity. Despite the fact that most of the other soloists are German-born, they sing the English words with practically no hint of an accent. Myung-Hee Hyun was born in Korea, but has studied in Germany. Her diction is also excellent, as of course is that of Alex Potter, the other native English singer. None of these singers need yield anything to the soloists on Robert King’s recording on Hyperion, the main competition to this recording.


There are two additional recordings of Joshua in the current catalog. I have not heard the recording conducted by Budday on K & K, but it received a negative evaluation in Fanfare 31:5. The recording conducted by Palmer on Newport has its attractions, but is outclassed by slightly better competition. Anyone looking to add Joshua to his collection could not go wrong with either King or Neumann.


FANFARE: Ron Salemi