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T<\/span>he job description couldn\u2019t have been plainer. As the Thomaskantor in Leipzig, Bach was required to compose and conduct church music that was neither too long nor operatic, but \u2018conducive to devotion\u2019 \u2013 and so, as he contemplated his first Passion setting for the Good Friday Vespers of 1724, he had demands other than just theological to ponder. <\/span><\/p>\n In the event, the resulting St John Passion<\/i> must have pinned its Nicolai Church congregation to the pews \u2013 if not operatic, it is certainly dramatic (a fine line, almost overstepped at times). Rooted in the past, yet fuelled by vibrant Italian imports such as recitative and the da capo<\/i> aria, it inaugurated a choral journey that would occupy Bach to the end of his life. <\/span><\/p>\n Unlike the longer St\u00a0Matthew Passion<\/i> that was to follow, there is no \u2018finished\u2019 version of the St John<\/i>. Rather, four incarnations (one a major overhaul), retell the story of Christ\u2019s betrayal and death with an immediacy and power that does indeed inspire devotion among both believers and non-believers to this day.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Mark Padmore (Evengelist) etc; Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists (2003)\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n SDG 712<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n For many John Eliot <\/span>Gardiner\u2019s 1986 recording was something of a benchmark; so when a new contender for their affections emerged, it was not entirely surprising to find that the usurper was none other than Gardiner (below) himself \u2013 now at the helm of a Monteverdi Choir \u2018class of 2003\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n Always a conductor with a special feeling for Bach, in the interim he\u2019d made a Millennium \u2018Cantata Pilgrimage\u2019, performing all the church cantatas on their allotted liturgical dates. The experience has nourished this live performance, originally broadcast from the suitably ecclesiastical acoustic of the K\u00f6nigslutter Kaiserdom.<\/span><\/p>\n Gardiner\u2019s dramatic instincts turn the Gospel\u2019s \u2018there and then\u2019 into the \u2018here and now\u2019, and his probing response to text shows equal acuity, whether caressing a chorale or striking sparks from his choir, reinvented as a blood-curdling mob. Their buoyancy, precision and passion is matched by the poise of The English Baroque Soloists, and holding everything together is the sovereign Evangelist of Mark Padmore \u2013 first among vocal equals that include mezzo Bernarda Fink\u2019s noble \u2018Es ist vollbracht\u2019, soprano Joanna Lunn\u2019s glacially shell-shocked \u2018Zerfliesse mein Herze\u2019, and Peter Harvey\u2019s radiant \u2018Mein teurer Heiland\u2019. From the ear-opening layering of the opening chorus to the unswerving trajectory of the finale chorale, Gardner accomplishes all with blessings to spare. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Nicholas Mulroy (Evangelist) etc; Dunedin Consort and Players (2011)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Linn CKD419 <\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Who could have predicted that, a quarter of a century since conductor Andrew Parrott\u2019s small-scale St John Passion<\/i> first appeared, one-(or slightly more)-to-a-part performances would have caught on to such an extent? \u2018Small\u2019 has proved not only beautiful but commonplace in recent recordings by the likes of Sigiswald Kuijken, Monica Huggett and, here, John Butt. <\/span><\/p>\n Butt\u2019s recording isn\u2019t just musically outstanding \u2013 every nuance weighed, daringly rough-hewn when required \u2013 but, for the first time on disc, the Passion is presented within its original liturgical context. As the closing chorale is consoled by Gallus\u2019s funeral motet Ecce quomodo moritur<\/i> the impact is breathtaking \u2013 and earthed by the unvarnished, unaccompanied unison of the congregational singing.<\/span><\/p>\n Mark Padmore (Evangelist) etc; Collegium Vocale Ghent (2001)\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Harmonia Mundi HML 590 8351\/53<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n When Bach returned to the St John Passion<\/i> in 1725 he gave it a radical makeover. Out went the erstwhile opening chorus. In came a meditative opening \u2018O Mensch bewein\u2019 that would also find its way into the St Matthew<\/i>, a somewhat superfluous concluding chorale-chorus, and three new arias of astonishing vigour, inventiveness and theatricality. In effect he created a new work with imperatives of its own. Herreweghe\u2019s ample forces \u2013 Rolls Royce casting including Mark Padmore and countertenor Andreas Scholl \u2013 honour the spirit of 1725 to the letter in a reading shot through with graceful inevitability, unforced truthfulness and profound humanity.<\/span><\/p>\nThe best recordings of St John Passion<\/h2>\n
John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)<\/span><\/h3>\n
J<\/span>ohn Butt (conductor)<\/span><\/h3>\n
Philippe Herreweghe (conductor)<\/span><\/h3>\n