St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244

Composer: Bach, Johann Sebastian

Conductor: Richter, Karl

Orchestra: Munich Bach Orchestra

Chorus: Munich Boys Choir

Chorus: Munich Bach Choir

Alto Arias: Hamari, Julia

Bass Arias: Berry, Walter

Evangelist: Schreier, Peter

Jesus: Schramm, Ernst-Gerold

Judas: Nimsgern, Siegmund

Pilatus: Nimsgern, Siegmund

Soprano Arias: Donath, Helen

Tenor Arias: Laubenthal, Horst R.

Television Director: Kach, Hugo

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Date of Production: 1971

Playing Time: 03:21:00

Catalogue Number: A05004492

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Karl Richter, the world-renowned Bach specialist who died in 1981, recorded the St. Matthew Passion at the splendid Benedictine abbey of Ottobeuren with two choruses, his Munich Bach Orchestra and the outstanding soloists Peter Schreier (Evangelist), Ernst Gerold Schramm (Jesus), Siegmund Nismgern (Judas) as well as Helen Donath, Julia Hamari, Walter Berry and Horst Laubenthal. Director Hugo Käch took the cross as his main motif for his stage setting by using a gigantic cross above the performers to suggest menace and oppression as well as protection. Richter's style blends the solid craftsmanship of a Leipzig "cantor" and a profound need for the freedom of improvisation. "I cannot gauge the tempo from the metronome; I have to take to it from my pulse, since the pulse is linked to the center of man, the heart." (Karl Richter)