St Matthew Passion discography
Notable recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion (Matthäus-Passion) are shown below in a sortable table.
The selection is taken from the 253 recordings listed on bach-cantatas as of 2015, beginning with a recording from 1939 by a symphony orchestra and choir to match. Beginning in the late 1960s, historically informed performances paved the way for recordings with smaller groups, boys choirs and ensembles playing period instruments, taken to an extreme in recordings using only one voice on a vocal part.
History
The work was first recorded by symphonic choirs and orchestras. From the late 1960s, historically informed performances (HIP) tried to adhere more to the sounds of the composer's lifetime, who typically wrote for boys choirs and for comparatively small orchestras of Baroque instruments, often now called "period instruments". Some scholars believe that Bach used only one singer for a vocal part in the choral movements, termed "one voice per part" (OVPP). On some of these recordings, the solo singer is reinforced in choral movements with a larger orchestra by a ripieno singer (OVPP+R).
The first recording of the work was conducted by David McKinley Williams with the choir of St. Bartholomew, New York in 1930, but was not complete. Serge Koussevitzky conducted a performance on Good Friday 1937, sung in English. The table begins with the recording conducted by Willem Mengelberg in 1939. In 1970 the first HIP recording appeared, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The first OVPP recording appeared in 2003, conducted by Paul McCreesh.
Table of recordings
The sortable listing is taken mostly from the selection provided by Aryeh Oron on the Bach-Cantatas website.
The information lists for one recording typically:
- Conductor / choir / orchestra, often several choirs
- Soloists in the order Evangelist (tenor), Vox Christi (Voice of Jesus, bass), soprano, alto, tenor (if the tenor arias are performed by a different tenor than the evangelist), bass. Sometimes the soloists are different for Choir I and II.
- Label
- Year of the recording
- Choir type
- Large choirs (red background): Bach (choir dedicated to Bach's music, founded in the mid of the 20th century), Boys (choir of all male voices), Radio (choir of a broadcaster), Symphony (choir related to a symphony orchestra)
- Medium-size choirs, such as Chamber choir, Chorale (choir dedicated mostly to church music), Madrigal
- One voice per part (green background): OVPP or OVPP+R (with ripienists reinforcing the soloists in some chorale movements)
- Orch. type (orchestra type)
- Large orchestras (red background): Large (unspecified), Bach (orchestra dedicated to Bach's music, founded in the mid of the 20th century), Radio (symphony orchestra of a broadcaster), Opera, Symphony
- Chamber orchestra
- Orchestra on period instruments (green background)
- Notes
Conductor / Choir / Orchestra | Soloists | Label | Year | Choir type | Orch. type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Willem Mengelberg[1]
|
|
Philips | 1939 | Large | Symphony | |
Reginald Jacques[1]The Bach ChoirThe Jacques Orchestra |
|
Decca | 1947 | Bach | Large | [lower-alpha 1] |
Fritz Lehmann[1]
|
|
Vox | 1949 | Boys | Radio | |
Hermann Scherchen[2]Wiener Akademie-KammerchorOrchestra of the Vienna State Opera |
|
Westminster | 1953 | Opera | ||
Wilhelm FurtwänglerWiener Singverein Wiener SängerknabenWiener Philharmoniker |
1954 | Symphony | ||||
Ralph Vaughan Williams[2][3]Leith Hill Musical Festival Orchestra & Chorus |
|
Pearl | 1958 | Large | released in 2000 | |
Fritz Werner[2]
|
|
Erato | 1958 | Chamber | ||
Mogens Wöldike[2]Schottenstift Boys' ChoirOrchestra of the Vienna State Opera |
|
Vanguard Classics | 1959 | Boys | Opera | |
Karl Richter[2]
|
|
Archiv Produktion | 1959 | Bach | Bach | [lower-alpha 2] |
Erhard Mauersberger Rudolf Mauersberger Hans-Joachim Rotzsch[4][5]Gewandhausorchester |
Eterna | 1962 | Boys | Symphony | [lower-alpha 3] | |
Otto Klemperer[4]Philharmonia ChorusPhilharmonia Orchestra |
|
EMI | 1962 | Symphony | Symphony | |
Leonard Bernstein[4]Collegiate ChoraleNew York Philharmonic |
|
Columbia Masterworks Records | 1962 | Chorale | Symphony | slightly abridged, sung in English later re-issued on Sony Masterworks |
Eugen JochumNetherlands Radio Choir Boys' Choir of St Willibrord Church, AmsterdamRoyal Concertgebouw Orchestra |
|
Philips | 1966 | Radio | ||
Wolfgang Gönnenwein[4]Süddeutscher MadrigalchorConsortium Musicum |
|
EMI | 1968 | Madrigal | Chamber | |
Claudio Abbado[4]
|
|
Dino Classics | 1969 | Radio | Radio | |
Karl Richter[4]
|
|
Archiv Produktion | 1969 | Bach | Bach | recorded live at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan |
Nikolaus Harnoncourt[6]
|
|
Teldec | 1970 | Boys | Period | First HIP |
Karl RichterMünchener Bach-Chor Münchener ChorknabenMünchener Bach-Orchester |
|
Deutsche Grammophon | 1971 | Bach | Bach | DVD, released in 2006 |
Herbert von Karajan[6]
|
|
Deutsche Grammophon | 1972 | Large | Symphony | |
Johan van der Meer[6]Groningse Bachvereniging
|
|
Groningse Bachvereniging (self release) |
1973 | Bach | Period | |
Charles de Wolff[6]
|
|
COrneMuse | 1977 | Bach | Period | |
Helmuth Rilling[6]Gächinger KantoreiBach-Collegium Stuttgart |
|
Columbia Masterworks Records | 1978 | Chorale | Chamber | later re-issued on Sony Masterworks |
David Willcocks[6]
|
|
Decca | 1979 | Bach | Chamber | Sung in English re-issued in 2006 on Universal Classics |
Karl Richter[6]
|
|
Archiv Produktion | 1979 | Bach | Bach | [lower-alpha 4] |
Philippe Herreweghe[7]Collegium Vocale Gent Chœur d'Enfants "Il dulci jubilo"Instrumentalists of Collegium Vocale Gent La Chapelle Royale |
Harmonia Mundi | 1985 | Period | |||
Peter Schreier[7]Rundfunkchor LeipzigStaatskapelle Dresden |
|
Philips | 1985 | Radio | Symphony | |
Georg Solti[7]Chicago Symphony ChorusChicago Symphony Orchestra |
|
Decca | 1988 | Symphony | Symphony | |
John Eliot Gardiner[7]Monteverdi ChoirEnglish Baroque Soloists |
|
Archiv Produktion | 1989 | Period | ||
Gustav Leonhardt[7]
|
|
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi | 1989 | Boys | Period | |
Ton Koopman[8]De Nederlandse Bachvereniging Sacramentskoor BredaAmsterdam Baroque Orchestra |
|
Erato | 1993 | Bach | Period | |
Stephen Cleobury[8]
|
|
Brilliant Classics/Regis | 1994 | Boys | Period | [lower-alpha 5] |
Frans Brüggen[8]
|
Philips | 1996 | Chamber | Period | ||
Jos van Veldhoven[8]De Nederlandse Bachvereniging Koorschool St. Bavo, Haarlem |
|
Channel Classics | 1997 | Bach | Period | reorded live at Muziekcentrum Vredenburg |
Seiji Ozawa[8]SKF Matsumoto Children's Choir & Tokyo Opera SingersSaito Kinen Orchestra | Philips | 1997 | Radio | Radio | ||
Philippe Herreweghe[8]Collegium Vocale Gent | Harmonia Mundi | 1998 | Period | |||
Masaaki Suzuki[8]Bach Collegium Japan |
|
BIS | 1999 | Period | ||
Heinz Hennig[9]Knabenchor Hannover ThomanerchorAkademie für Alte Musik Berlin Barockorchester L'Arco |
|
Thorofon | 2000 | Boys | Period | Collaboration of two boys' choirs |
Nikolaus Harnoncourt[9]
|
|
Teldec | 2001 | Period | [lower-alpha 6] | |
Paul McCreesh[9]Gabrieli Consort & Players |
|
Archiv Produktion | 2003 | OVPP | Period | First OVPP |
Enoch zu Guttenberg[9]
|
|
Farao Classics | 2003 | Large | Large | |
Ton Koopman[9]Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir Sacramentskoor Breda |
|
Challenge Classics | 2006 | Period | [lower-alpha 7] | |
John Butt[9]Dunedin Consort |
|
Linn Records | 2008 | OVPP+R | Period | Recording of 1742 version |
Sigiswald Kuijken[9][10]La Petite Bande |
|
Challenge Classics | 2008 | OVPP | Period | |
Riccardo Chailly[9]
|
|
Decca | 2009 | Boys | Symphony | collaboration of two boys' choirs |
Jos van Veldhoven[11]De Nederlandse Bachvereniging Kampen Boys Choir |
|
Channel Classics | 2010 | OVPP+R | Period | |
René Jacobs[12]RIAS Kammerchor Staats- und Domchor BerlinAkademie für Alte Musik Berlin |
|
Harmonia Mundi | 2013 | Chamber | Period | |
Peter Dijkstra[11]Bavarian Radio Choir Regensburger DomspatzenBavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra |
|
BR-Klassik | 2014 | Radio | Radio | |
Hans-Christoph Rademann[11]Gaechinger Cantorey |
|
Accentus Music | 2017 | Chorale | Period | DVD of choreographed performance |
- Revised by Elgar & Atkins. Sung in English, and the translation was done by Troutbeck & Johnson. Omits Nos. 11, 21, 65, 66; Abridged Nos. 10, 12
- later re-issued (choruses & arias only) on Deutsche Grammophon
- collaboration of two conductors (and brothers) and their boys' choirs, re-issued in 2005 Berlin Classics
- 5th recording Richter, recorded at Herkulessaal, Munich Residenz; last recording of work by Richter (recorded 2 years before his death)
- also on DVD, filmed and recorded at King's College Chapel, Cambridge
- 2001 Grammy Award for "Best Choral Performance", 2001 Gramophone magazine award for "Best Baroque Vocal Recording"
- also on DVD, filmed and recorded at Sint-Joriskerk, Amersfoort
References
- "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 1 / Complete Recordings 1900-1949". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 2 / Complete Recordings 1950-1959". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- "Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) / St Matthew Passion". musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 3 / Complete Recordings 1960-1969". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- "Bach, J S: St Matthew Passion, BWV244" (in German). magazin.klassik.com. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 4 / Complete Recordings 1970-1979". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 5 / Complete Recordings 1980-1989". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 6 / Complete Recordings 1990-1999". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 8 / Complete Recordings 2000-2009". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- "Bach, J S: St Matthew Passion, BWV244". prestoclassical.co.uk. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 9 / Complete Recordings 2010-2019". bach-cantatas.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- "Bach, J S: St Matthew Passion, BWV244". prestoclassical.co.uk. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
External links
- Matthäuspassion, BWV 244 (Bach, Johann Sebastian): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Matthäuspassion, BWV 244b (Bach, Johann Sebastian (early edition): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Libretto with English translation San Francisco Bach Choir
- Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 Commentary, musical examples, list of recordings on the Bach Cantatas Website
- Side-by-side arrangement of the original text and an English translation Minnesota Public Radio