St Luke Passion by Markus Stenz / Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

James MacMillan

Markus Stenz / Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

St Luke Passion

Price: € 20.95
Format: SACD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917267129
Catnr: CC 72671
Release date: 18 March 2015
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917267129

Catalogue number
CC 72671

Release date
18 March 2015

"['']...Macmillan has created a unique and powerful piece that should not be ignored...['']"

Music Web International, 01-8-2015

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

Following his sensational St John Passion (2007), the St Luke Passion is the second passion to be completed by the Scottish composer James MacMillan. MacMillan’s attachment to the story of the Passion stems directly from his deep-rooted Roman Catholic faith. The list of his works contains a range of vocal compositions that deal with the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ: from his music theatre work Visitatio Sepulchri for choir and chamber ensemble (1993) and the cantata Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993) to the Tenebrae Responsories (2006) for eight-part a cappella choir. He regularly draws inspiration from the story of the Passion, even in his purely instrumental works. In the Fourteen Little Pictures for piano trio (1997), the composer’s starting point is the fourteen Stations of the Cross of Jesus. And the first two parts of his orchestral triptych Triduum, The World’s Ransoming and the Cello Concerto (1996), contain melodic material derived from the Gregorian liturgy for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. This catalogue backs up MacMillan’s comment in The Times newspaper to the effect that he regards the Crucifixion and Resurrection as ‘the most important days in the history of the world’. This was part of an interview in 2009, with the telling headline ‘My art is shaped by my faith’. It was therefore always likely that, sooner or later, MacMillan would submit to the genre of Passion oratorio with an instrumental accompaniment.
However, it came as a major shock to many among the Passion-loving audience at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s concert on Palm Sunday 2009 when MacMillan’s truculent St John Passion resounded throughout the concert hall instead of Bach’s Matthew or John Passion. Where had the arias and chorales gone? Why had MacMillan utilized the Good Friday Improperia (the
‘Reproaches of Christ’) as well as the Gospel? And most of all, why was the Evangelist replaced by a four-part chamber choir?
Like most of his colleagues, MacMillan had of course listened attentively to Bach. But as a British musician he also felt a close affinity with his compatriots who had taken the choir centre-stage over the past hundred years, including Vaughan Williams, Tippett and Britten.

De wereldpremière van de tweede passie van MacMillan
Op Paaszondag 2009 was het publiek geschokt toen het Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest de agressieve St. John Passion van de Schotse componist James MacMillan opvoerde in plaats van de Mattheus- of Johannespassie van Bach. Waar waren de koralen en aria’s gebleven? Waarom had de componist zowel het Improperia als het evangelie gebruikt? En het belangrijkste: waarom werd de evangelist vervangen door een vierstemmig kamerkoor?

Het werk werd uiteindelijk toch goed ontvangen, en het was slechts een kwestie van tijd tot MacMillan een nieuwe passie componeerde. Deze nieuwe passie is de St. Luke Passion, die op dit album is opgenomen. In tegenstelling tot de St. John Passion is deze nieuwe passie kleinschalig, compact en kalm. In de St. Luke Passion wordt MacMillans katholieke geloof ingetogen uitgedrukt met een opmerkelijk aantal middelen. Het werk vormt de perfecte balans tussen drama en religieuze meditatie.

James MacMillan is een van de meest talentvolle componisten van deze tijd. Zijn muzikale stijl kent invloeden van Schotse, Katholieke, Keltische, Oosterse, Scandinavische en Oost-Europese muziek. Hij kreeg internationale erkenning na het succes van de uitvoering van The Confession of Isobel Gowdie op de BBC Proms in 1990. Sinds die tijd zijn z'n werken over de hele wereld opgenomen en uitgezonden.

Nach dem rauschenden Erfolg seiner Johannespassion war es nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis sich James MacMillan, einer der kunstfertigsten Komponisten unserer Zeit, erneut der Gattung der Passion zuwenden würde. Seine Verbindung zur Passionsgeschichte ist tief verwurzelt in seinem römisch-katholischen Glauben und beeinflusst nicht nur die Komposition seiner Passionen, sondern auch eine Vielzahl anderer Werke, die sich mit der Kreuzigung und dem Tode Jesu beschäftigen. So manifestiert sich sein starker Glaube hier ein weiteres Mal in einer perfekten Balance zwischen Drama und religiöser Meditation.

Dopo la sua impressionante Passione secondo Giovanni (2007), la Passione secondo Luca è la seconda passione che il compositore scozzese MacMillan ha portato a termine. L’attaccamento di MacMillan alla storia della passione discende direttamente dalla sua profonda fede cattolica. L’elenco delle sue opere comprende una serie di composizioni vocali che affrontano la crocifissione e la morte di Gesù Cristo: dalla sua opera teatrale Visitatio Sepulchri per coro e ensemble da camera (1993) e dalla cantata Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993) ai Tenebrae Responsories (2006) per coro a cappella a otto parti. Egli trae ispirazione regolarmente dalla storia della Passione, persino nei suoi lavori puramente strumentali. Nei Fourteen Little Pictures for piano trio (1997), il punto di partenza del compositore sono le quattordici stazioni della Via Crucis. E le prime due parti del trittico orchestrale Triduum, The World’s Ransoming e il Cello Concerto (1996), contengono materiale melodico derivato dalla liturgia gregoriana rispettivamente per il Giovedì e il Venerdì Santo. Questo catalogo conferma il commento di MacMillan apparso sul Times, secondo cui la Crocifissione e Resurrezione come «i giorni più importanti nella storia del mondo». Questa frase faceva pare di un’intevista del 2009, dal titolo esplicativo «La mia arte è forgiata dalla mia fede». Era quindi probabile che, presto o tardi, MacMillan avrebbe affrontato il genere della Passione-oratorio con accompagnamento strumentale. Tuttavia, per molti degli appassionati presenti al concerto della Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, nella domenica delle Palme del 2009, è stato scioccante quando per tutta la sala da concerto risuonava la truculenta Passione secondo Giovanni di MacMillan, invece della Passione secondo Matteo o Giovanni di Bach. Dove erano finite le arie e i corali? Perché MacMillan aveva utilizzato gli Improperia del Venerdì Santo oltre al Vangelo? E soprattutto, perché l’Evangelista era sostitutivo da un coro da camera a quattro parti? Come molti dei suoi colleghi, MacMillan aveva naturalmente ascoltato con attenzione Bach. Ma, in quando musicista britannico, aveva anche sentito una forte affinità con i suoi compatrioti che negli ultimi cent’anni avevano affidato un ruolo centrale al coro, compresi Vaughan Williams, Tippett e Britten.

Artist(s)

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra gave its first concert on 7 October 1945, led by its founder and ‘first conductor‘ Albert van Raalte, on Radio “Herrijzend Nederland”. Initially the orchestra spent most of its time in studios working on a large number of recordings for the public broadcasting system. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic featured prominently in the Saturday Matinee as soon as the series started in 1961, and has continued to give frequent live performances ever since. The celebrated Saturday Matinee has hosted many legendary concerts. Illustrious soloists such as Kathleen Ferrier, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Clara Haskil and Jean-Pierre Rampal have shared the stage with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2004, the three classical orchestral formations of the broadcasting 15 system were transformed into two: the present Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic. In 2006, these two orchestras, the Netherlands Radio Choir and the Metropole Orchestra joined the Dutch public broadcasting organisation NPO.
The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra has been conducted by great names such as Bernard Haitink, Jean Fournet, Hans Vonk, Sergiu Comissiona and Edo de Waart. Jaap van Zweden was named its chief conductor in September 2005. The orchestra has also worked with numerous famed guest conductors such as Leopold Stokowski, Kirill Kondrashin, Antál Dorati, Riccardo Muti, Kurt Masur and Valery Gergiev. Soon after its founding, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic found itself foremost in Dutch musical life in the number of performances and the diversity of its repertoire, with a predilection for Dutch and contemporary works in its programming. It has honed another facet of its striking profile with a great many opera concertante performances. The orchestra has an extensive discography, ranging from legendary LPs recorded in the 1970s under such conductors as Leopold Stokowski and Antal Doráti to Jean Fournet’s much-lauded renderings of French repertoire. Under Edo de Waart, not only did it release its legendary Wagner interpretations, but also the complete orchestral works of Rachmaninov. CDs with work by contemporary composers such as Jonathan Harvey, Klas Torstensson, Jan van Vlijmen and Stravinsky have garnered prizes and much acclaim.

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Netherlands Radio Choir

The Netherlands Radio Choir is the largest professional choir in the Netherlands. Since its founding in 1946, the choir has performed a broad repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary music and has been synonymous with top-level music performed with passion. It works in various sizes and formations, depending on the music concerned and the conductor.
First official chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir was Kenneth Montgomery. After him came Robin Gritton, Martin Wright, Simon Halsey, Celso Antunes and Gijs Leenaars. As from the 2015-2016 season Klaas Stok is chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir. Michael Gläser has been its permanent guest conductor since September 2010.
The Netherlands Radio Choir has worked with guest conductors such as Marcus Creed and Peter Dijkstra, with early music specialists as Frans Brüggen, Philippe Herreweghe and Ton Koopman, and in the symphonic choral repertoire with Jaap van Zweden, James Gaffigan, Markus Stenz and Sir Simon Rattle, among others.
The choir often performs with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in public radio concert series, and it is regularly invited to perform with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since the early 1980s, the Netherlands Radio Choir has been a frequent guest in the Saturday Matinee series of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In these concerts the choir has regularly performed pre- mieres and works by contemporary composers such as Ligeti, Boulez, Birtwistle, Kagel, Reich, Wagemans, Adès, Adams and Vleggaar. Most concerts of the Netherlands Radio Choir are live broadcasted by Radio 4. On CD the Netherlands Radio Choir excels in a broad repertoire including music by Keuris, MacMillan, Mahler, Poulenc, Rossini and Wagner.

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National Youth Choir

Netherlands Female Youth Choir The Netherlands Female Youth Choir (NFYC) consists of outstanding young singers from the age of 16, from throughout the Netherlands. Once a month they gather for rehearsals. Conductor is Wilma ten Wolde. Vocal coaches are Irene Verburg and Anna Sims (UK). The NFYC performed a cappella projects with conductors as Eric Ericson, Daniel Reuss, Peter Dijkstra, Kaspars Putnins and Iván Fischer. The NFYC is part of the Netherlands Vocal Talent Foundation that offers musically talented young people an opportunity for essential training in singing, aural skills, choral singing and general musicianship. The Foundation organizes the National Choirs: Netherlands Childrens Choir, Netherlands Boys Choir, Netherlands Mixed Youth Choir and Netherlands Female Youth Choir. Patron is Sir Simon Rattle. Their...

Netherlands Female Youth Choir The Netherlands Female Youth Choir (NFYC) consists of outstanding young singers from the age of 16, from throughout the Netherlands. Once a month they gather for rehearsals. Conductor is Wilma ten Wolde. Vocal coaches are Irene Verburg and Anna Sims (UK). The NFYC performed a cappella projects with conductors as Eric Ericson, Daniel Reuss, Peter Dijkstra, Kaspars Putnins and Iván Fischer. The NFYC is part of the Netherlands Vocal Talent Foundation that offers musically talented young people an opportunity for essential training in singing, aural skills, choral singing and general musicianship. The Foundation organizes the National Choirs: Netherlands Childrens Choir, Netherlands Boys Choir, Netherlands Mixed Youth Choir and Netherlands Female Youth Choir.
Patron is Sir Simon Rattle. Their conductor Wilma ten Wolde is recognized internationally as a well established expert on Youth Singing. Wilma ten Wolde has trained the National Choirs for more than 60 varying orchestral productions, under the direction of conductors including: Charles Dutoit, Iván Fischer, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Philippe Herreweghe, Mariss Jansons, Vladimir Jurowsky, Sir Simon Rattle, Vladimir Jurowsky, Daniele Gatti and Markus Stenz.
www.vocaaltalent.nl

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Markus Stenz (conductor)

Markus Stenz is Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (since 2012) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from the 2015/2016 onwards.
His previous positions have included most recently General Music Director of the City of Cologne and Gürzenich-Kapellmeister and Principal Guest Conductor of the Hallé Orchestra (posts he relinquished in the summer of 2014). Markus Stenz was Artistic Director of the Montepulciano Festival (1989 – 1995), Principal Conductor of the London Sinfonietta (1994 – 1998) – one of the most renowned ensembles for contemporary music and Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (1998 – 2004). Trained at the School of Music in Cologne under Volker Wangenheim and at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa, Markus Stenz has held the positions of Artistic Director of the Montepulciano Festival (1989 – 1995), Principal Conductor of the London Sinfonietta (1994 – 1998) – one of the most renowned ensembles for contemporary music. As Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (1998 – 2004) Markus Stenz broadened his repertoire and established his career as an international conductor.
He made his debut as an opera conductor at La Fenice in Venice and has since conducted many world premieres and first performances including Henze’s Das Verratene Meer in Berlin, Venus und Adonis at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and L’Upupa at the 2003 Salzburg Festival. Markus Stenz has appeared at many of the world’s major opera houses and international festivals including La Scala in Milan, La Monnaie in Brussels, English National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Stuttgart Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Edinburgh International Festival, the Bregenz Festival (with the world premiere of Solaris by Detlev Glanert in July 2012) and Salzburg Festival.
His notable opera performances in Cologne have included Wagner’s Ring, Lohengrin,Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Parsifal as well as Janacek’s Jenufa and Katya Kabanova. Markus Stenz conducts many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Berlin Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Vienna Symphony, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo and the Symphony Orchestras of the Bayerische Rundfunk, the HR, the WDR and the NDR. In the United States these have included the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
His comprehensive discography includes many award-winning productions. His recording of the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler with the Gürzenich Orchestra (Oehms Classics), for instance, was given an enthusiasic international reception, and was selected among the "Quarterly Critic's Choice" issued by the German Record Critics' Award Association with the recording of Mahler's 5th. The discography was recently enlarged by the addition of recordings of the world premiere of James MacMillan’s St. Luke Passion and the Dutch première of K. A. Hartmnann’s Simplicius Simplicissimus (Challenge Classics) with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest as well as various Schönberg-recordings with the Gürzenich-Orchestra Cologne.
The 2015/2016 season leads Markus Stenz all over the world, from São Paulo to Shanghai. He will again conduct premières and world premières, among others the German premiere of a Cello Concerto by Pascal Dusapin with the cellist Alisa Weilerstein and an orchestra work by Dieter Ammann with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich in June 2016.
Markus Stenz has been awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal North

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Peter Dicke

Peter Dicke (1956) is a German organist and music pedagogue. He is active in concerts since 1970.
Dicke studied school music, organ and piano in Köln. Since 1966 he was organist in several little municipalities, until he became organist of the Abtei Maria Laach (1973-1979). From 1978 until 1998 he teached organ and organ improvisation and from 1995 until 1998 he was professor of church music and organ at the Kölner Hochschule für Musik. Since 1998 he was guest teacher at the Russian Music Academies in Kasan and Saratow. Currently (2011) he is working again in several little municipalities.
He made radio recordings as organist and pianist for WDR, SWR, BR, SR and other radio stations; performed as organist with the Kölner Rundfunkchor; was member of renowned chamber music ensembles; was a soloist at festivals in Leon (all Händel organ concerts), Madrid, Toulon and Luxembourg.
Dicke also works as a publisher of piano and organ music at Verlag Dohr, Köln, with editions of Max Reger, Joseph Rheinberger, Pietro Pompeo Sales and Fanny Hensel, and as a author of a instrumental school for young organ players at Verlag Schott, Mainz.
English translations based on: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Dicke http://www.dohr.de/autor/dicke.htm

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Composer(s)

James MacMillan

James MacMillan is one of today’s most successful composers and is also internationally active as a conductor. His musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience and close connection with Celtic folk music, blended with influences from Far Eastern, Scandinavian and Eastern European music.
MacMillan first became internationally recognized after the extraordinary success of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie at the BBC Proms in 1990.
His prolific output has since been performed and broadcast around the world. His major works include percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, which has received more than 400 performances, a cello concerto for Mstislav Rostropovich and three symphonies. Recent major works include his St John Passion co-commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Radio Choir, his Violin Concerto, Viola Concerto, St Luke Passion and, most recently, his Percussion Concerto No.2 for Colin Currie, co-commissioned by the Philharmonia Orchestra, Edinburgh International Festival, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra and Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.
MacMillan enjoys a flourishing career as conductor of his own music alongside a range of contemporary and standard repertoire, praised for the composer’s insight he brings to each score. He was Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic until 2013 and was Composer/ Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic from 2000-2009; he has conducted orchestras such as the Baltimore Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony, Danish Radio Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra among others. MacMillan was Composer in Residence at the 2012 Grafenegg Festival and a London Symphony Orchestra Portrait Artist in the 2009/10 season.
In spring 2014 MacMillan conducted three projects with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, culminating in a ground-breaking tour to India with Nicola Benedetti performing in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi including public concerts, schools concerts and outreach work. In the 2014/15 season, MacMillan conducts orchestras including the Bergen Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Britten Sinfonia. In January 2015 he conducts a new production of his opera, Inés de Castro, at Scottish Opera and elsewhere this season conducts choral concerts in Sao Paulo and with the BBC Singers. In October 2014 MacMillan founded his music festival, The Cumnock Tryst, which takes place in his native Ayrshire.

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Press

['']...Macmillan has created a unique and powerful piece that should not be ignored...['']
Music Web International, 01-8-2015

"A great composition, a subliminal performance and a very enjoyable recording, what more can one ask for?"
Opus Klassiek, 01-7-2015

Stars 4/5
Diapason, 01-7-2015

['']...The virtuoso organ part, demanding much from the instrument itself (a huge sustained cluster in chapter 23 takes dangerous risks with wind supply), dovetails splendidly with an orchestra which, while described as 'modest' in size, nevertheless packs a powerfull punch with some fabulously full-blooded and scintillating playing...['']
GRAMOPHONE, 01-7-2015

["].. The recording is of the world premiere, and while there is occasional scruffiness in the orchestral playing, you wouldn't swap the immediacy and commitment for a more carefully tailored alternative."
BBC Music Magazine, 01-7-2015

"..a performance which is always compelling and occasionally electrifying. ... full-blooded and scintillating playing."
Gramophone, 15-6-2015

At 8 in the official Classical Chart! ['']...MacMillan's mighty choral work proves popular...['']
BBC Music Magazine, 01-6-2015

['']...A powerful interpretation that casts fresh light on the Gospel..['']
Northern Echo, 14-5-2015

"St. Luke Passion provides a nice balance, from the beginning to the end."
Crescendo Magazine, 09-5-2015

"This live recording of the premiere in Amsterdam, conducted by Markus Stenz, shows the music good at portraying the extremes of almighty power and frail piety."
Financial Times, 18-4-2015

"Innovative"
The Independent, 18-4-2015

['']...This live recording of the premiere in Amsterdam, conducted by Markus Stenz, shows the music good at portraying the extremes of almighty power and frail piety, but the personal, human level is missing...['']
Financial Times, 18-4-2015

['']...The instrument's power contrasts sharply with another of MacMillan's innovations, in which the part of Christ, usually taken by a low male soloist, is sung instead by a children's choir, a deliberate ploy to convey Christ's innocence...['']
The Independent , 18-4-2015

****
The Independent, 17-4-2015

['']...The imposing organ, which figures so highly in the work, contrasts sharply with another innovation, in which the part of Christ, usually taken by a low male solist, is sung by a children's choir...['']
The Independent , 17-4-2015

"MacMillan's St Luke emphasises the violent and all too human drama of the Passion story."
The Observer, 12-4-2015

['']...MacMillan's singular, potent mix of tradition and novelty has earned its following...['']
The Observer, 12-4-2015

"Where Bach's passions draw the listener into a private confrontation with mortality that can transcend individual belief, MacMillan is exactingly theological."
The Guardian, 07-4-2015

"Enhanced by the singers' and the Britten Sinfonia's vibrant performance, it came across with considerable verve."
Financial Times, 07-4-2015

['']...It impresses, but doesn't always move...['']
The Guardian, 07-4-2015

3*** ["].. MacMillan's voice, however, is unmistakable."
Financial Times, 07-4-2015

"MacMillan's take is, characteristically, both orthodox and innovative."
Presto Newsletter, 06-4-2015

"A wonderful passion for our time, great performed."
Trouw, 03-4-2015

"The power of the piece is the quality of his setting with the choral, where for he has developed an extraordinary talent."
Het Parool, 02-4-2015

"This disc is a 'must' for all admirers of James MacMillan's music and further evidence of the effective way that Challenge Classics has championed his music in the last few years."
Music Web International, 01-4-2015

"A contemporary work that illuminates the different facets of the passion with a subtle and expressive sound design."
SR Weltmusik, 31-3-2015

"This is a grand choral work with simple tools, of which you hope it will be performed again very often.”
NRC Handelsblad, 30-3-2015