Matthäus Passion by Jan Willem de Vriend / The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra

Johann Sebastian Bach

Jan Willem de Vriend / The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra

Matthäus Passion

Price: € 24.95
Format: SACD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917266122
Catnr: CC 72661
Release date: 13 March 2015
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917266122

Catalogue number
CC 72661

Release date
13 March 2015

"Stars 4/5"

Diapason, 01-7-2015

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

On 11 March 1829 the 20-year-old Felix Mendelssohn conducted a performance of the St Matthew Passion, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, in the concert hall of the Singakademie in Berlin, almost 100 years after the work had last been played. Some 900 people were in attendance, and the performance was so successful that it was repeated twice, on 21 March and on Good Friday, 17 April 1829.

Mendelssohn was given the score of the St Matthew Passion for his 15th birthday, 3 February 1824.. He knew of the score as one of Zelter's pupils and as a member of the Singakademie, which had a few chorus parts from the St Matthew in its repertoire. Zelter, the conductor of the Singakademie, found the work too difficult to be performed in public. Mendelssohn, however, had a different opinion. In 1828 he set to work on the score, making changes in line with the day and age and the instruments then commonly used. Mendelssohn meant many of his changes to provide a better understanding of what, in his opinion, formed the heart of the passion story.

After its successes in Berlin, the St Matthew Passion was performed in a number of German cities. In 1841 Mendelssohn gave a performance in Leipzig, where he was then Kapellmeister, in the Thomaskirche, the church where the work had first been performed. For its performance in 1841, Mendelssohn again made alterations to the score, but fewer than in 1828/1829.

It is this version from 1841 that you will hear in this recording.
Mendelssohn was faced with a number of problems that made it quite difficult to perform the St Matthew Passion. For example, several instruments were no longer in general use: the oboe da caccia, the oboe d'amore, the gamba and the lute.

Bachs Matthäus Passion − bewerkt door Felix Mendelssohn
Deze live opname van J.S. Bachs Matthäus Passion wordt uitgevoerd door het Orkest van het Oosten en Concensus Vocalis onder leiding van Jan Willem de Vriend. Deze uitvoering vond plaats in Muziekcentrum Enschede in april 2014.

Felix Mendelssohn begon in 1828 te werken aan een bewerking van Bachs Matthäus Passion en deed enkele aanpassingen om het werk te vormen naar de tijd waarin hij leefde. Zo paste hij de instrumentatie aan, omdat er enkele instrumenten in het stuk gebruikt werden die in zijn tijd niet meer bespeeld werden. Op 1 maart 1829, bijna 100 jaar nadat het werk voor het laatst werd uitgevoerd, dirigeerde de 20-jarige Mendelssohn de uitvoering van zijn bewerking in de concertzaal van de Singakademie in Berlijn. Zo'n 900 mensen waren aanwezig, en het optreden was zo succesvol dat het twee keer werd herhaald.
Na de successen in Berlijn werd de Matthäus Passion uitgevoerd in een aantal andere Duitse steden. In 1841 gaf Mendelssohn een optreden in de Thomaskirche te Leipzig, waar hij toen kapelmeester was. Dit was tevens de kerk waar het werk voor het eerst werd uitgevoerd. Voor deze gelegenheid paste Mendelssohn wederom de muziek aan. De versie uit 1841 is te horen op dit album.

Jan Willem de Vriend is sinds 2006 chef dirigent bij het Orkest van het Oosten. Tevens is de Vriend gastdirigent geweest bij toonaangevende orkesten in zowel binnen- als buitenland, waaronder het Koninklijk Concertgebouw Orkest van Amsterdam en het Konzerthaus Orchester van Berlijn. In 2012 won hij de prestigieuze Radio 4 prijs voor zijn onvermoeibare promotie van klassieke muziek.

Am 11. März 1829 dirigierte der gerade einmal 20-jährige Felix Mendelssohn eine Aufführung von Bachs Matthäuspassion in Berlin, fast 100 Jahre, nachdem das Werk zum letzten Mal gespielt worden war. Das Konzert war ein solcher Erfolg, dass die Passion am 21. März und am Karfreitag, dem 17. April weitere Male aufgeführt wurde. Nach diesen Erfolgen in Berlin kam die Passion in zahlreichen deutschen Städten zur Aufführung, unter anderem 1841 in Leipzig, wo Mendelssohn zu der Zeit Kapellmeister der Thomaskirche war, der Kirche, in der die Passion zum ersten Mal aufgeführt worden war.

Bereits für seine erste Aufführung hatte Mendelssohn das Werk anhand des Standards seiner Zeit überarbeitet, denn er war der Überzeugung, dass eine solche Aktualisierung, auch was die Instrumente betraf, den Hörern ein besseres Verständnis dessen vermittelte, das seiner Meinung nach der Kern der Passionsgeschichte war. Auch für das Leipziger Konzert nahm Mendelssohn weitere Änderungen vor, und es ist die Version aus dem Jahre 1841, in der Sie die Passion auf dieser CD als live-Aufnahme des bemerkenswerten Niederländischen Symphonieorchesters hören.

Artist(s)

Maarten Koningsberger (bass)

Jörg Dürmüller (tenor)

The Swiss lyric tenor, Jörg Dürmüller, studied violin and voice at the Winterthur Conservatoire in Switzerland with Ruth Binder (1977-1982), and with a scholarship of the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund at the Academy of Music and Theatre in Hamburg with Naan Pöld, Hans Kagel and Hertha Werner (1982-1987). He attended master-classes given by Edith Mathis, Christa Ludwig and Hermann Prey. Jörg Dürmüller's first opera-engagement led him in 1987 to the Bielefeld City Theatre, where he was a member of the ensemble for five years. From 1995 to 1997 he was engaged as the first tenor at the Brunswick State Theatre under Kammersängerin Brigitte Fassbaender. He appeared also at the State Opera of Hamburg, and at the Theatre in Revier Gelsenkirchen. In 1996 he appeared as a guest at the Comic Opera Berlin...

The Swiss lyric tenor, Jörg Dürmüller, studied violin and voice at the Winterthur Conservatoire in Switzerland with Ruth Binder (1977-1982), and with a scholarship of the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund at the Academy of Music and Theatre in Hamburg with Naan Pöld, Hans Kagel and Hertha Werner (1982-1987). He attended master-classes given by Edith Mathis, Christa Ludwig and Hermann Prey.
Jörg Dürmüller's first opera-engagement led him in 1987 to the Bielefeld City Theatre, where he was a member of the ensemble for five years. From 1995 to 1997 he was engaged as the first tenor at the Brunswick State Theatre under Kammersängerin Brigitte Fassbaender. He appeared also at the State Opera of Hamburg, and at the Theatre in Revier Gelsenkirchen. In 1996 he appeared as a guest at the Comic Opera Berlin in the role of Fernando in Così fan tutte produced by Harry Kupfer, and at the National Theatre of Braunschweig as Andres in Wozzeck by Alban Berg. In 2002 and 2003 he sang the role of Bajazete in George Frideric Handel’s Tamerlano also at the Opera Comique Berlin directed by David Alden.

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Judith van Wanroij (soprano)

Helena Rasker (alto)

The Dutch alto HELENA RASKER (Paula) studied at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and at the Tanglewood Music Center in the US. Helena Rasker has worked with conductors like Marc Minkowski, Fabio Biondi, Michael Corboz, Pascal Rophé, Hartmut Haenchen, Paolo Carignani, Jonathan Stockhammer Christian Zacharias, Oliver Knussen, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Reinbert de Leeuw and Jaap van Zweden, with orchestras like Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Bamberger Symphoniker. Her repertoire includes oratorios by Bach, Händel, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Dvořák, song cycles and symphonies by Mahler, Shostakovich, Wagner and Frank Martin, as well as chamber music by Ravel, Brahms, Britten, Ligeti, Sciarrino, Nono and Gubaidulina....

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The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra

The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra is based in Enschede, in the province of Overijssel. Performing at an international level, as evidenced by its highly acclaimed CDs and invitations for international tours, the orchestra is firmly rooted in society.
Jan Willem de Vriend has been its artistic director and chief conductor since 2006. He will be succeeded by Ed Spanjaard in 2017. Under De Vriend’s leadership, the orchestra has expanded its repertoire to cover music from four centuries. Its use of period instruments in the Classical repertoire gives the orchestra a distinctive and highly individual character.
The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra performs amongst others in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Enschede, Zwolle and Deventer. In addition, it has made successful tours of the United States, Spain and England and it often works with the Dutch National Touring Opera Company. In its home town Enschede, the orchestra builds on a symphonic tradition of more than 80 years, and it is known as one of the most modern and entrepreneurial orchestras in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra created a number of ensembles, such as a chamber orchestra, the Baroque Academy of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (BANSO) and various chamber music ensembles. The orchestra’s commitment to expanding its social relevance is also reflected in the large number of projects in which education is a key element.
The orchestra has worked with distinguished conductors, such as its former chief conductor Jaap van Zweden, Vasily Petrenko, Edo de Waart, Claus Peter Flor and Tan Dun. It also has accompanied many celebrated soloists, including Gidon Kremer, Ronald Brautigam, Natalia Gutman, Charlotte Margiono, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Thomas Zehetmair.

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Composer(s)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth. Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

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Press

Stars 4/5
Diapason, 01-7-2015

''Here we have a ligt-footed, modern-instrument account which gently projects the textural divergence and melodic simplification of 'awkward' Baroque contours, although 'Erbarme dich' for soprano rather reverses the trend with its extrovert reworking''
GRAMOPHONE, 01-7-2015

''So this is not really an 1841 performance in the expected sense of the word, but a good and clear account of the 1841 Mendelssohn version on modern instruments, played with a good deal of awereness of historical performance style.''
Early Music Review , 01-6-2015

["].. So this is not really an 1841 performance in the expected sense of the word, but a good and clear account of the 1841 Mendelssohn version on modern instruments, played with a good deal of awareness of historical performance style."
Early Music Review, 01-6-2015

"Clearly, this can’t be a library choice for the Matthäus-Passion but it’s a valuable supplement to performances of Bach’s standard text. Yes, there are significant cuts but I would urge people to look beyond them and to experience Mendelssohn’s important evangelical work on Bach’s behalf for themselves. I don’t know if the Mendelssohn version has been recorded before – this isn’t claimed as a first recording – but opportunities to experience it will not come frequently and it is most interesting to hear."
Music Web International, 01-6-2015

"Overall this recording is very balanced and well-made."
Blog Ich habe gehört, 06-4-2015

"The ideal afterparty. Just at home on the couch and the new super audio cd by Jan Willem de Vriend."
De Gelderlander, 02-4-2015

"So for someone who delicious and shamelessly dares to indulge in the good voice in an on top and highly romantic translation of this adaptation."
Opus Klassiek, 01-4-2015

"Rarity value with clarinets, a choir with soloists in chorale melody."
NRC Handelsblad, 30-3-2015

"Orchestra and chorus meet excelent in this loving reconstruction of an important moment in music history."
Trouw, 27-3-2015

The most special version of the Matthaeus-Passion this year is an SACD where Jan Willem de Vriend on Challenge Classics presents a version by Mendelssohn of 1841
Operamagazine.nl, 23-3-2015

Jan Willem de Vriend / The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra

Matthäus Passion

About the album

Artist(s)

Maarten Koningsberger (bass)

Jörg Dürmüller (tenor)

Judith van Wanroij (soprano)

Helena Rasker (alto)

The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra

Composer(s)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Press

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