Cheap Bach - St. Matthew Passion (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Bach - St. Matthew Passion

Concert Version of an Opera
I've only had the opportunity to watch the first part. I have recently gotten a 1080i 42" LCD TV with 5.1 sound system and appreciated the 16X9 format. I thought the opening chorus was too slow even though Koopman is supposed to be a Baroque expert. His guestures were a bit excessive for my taste as well. Tempos later in the piece seemed better chosen. I have an excellant audio only version on LP by N. Harn... which contains an excellant structural analysis of the piece. The booklet with this production could have done better in that regard.

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A solid performance in the spirit it was meant to
Coming out on the heel of the Richter DVD, this outstanding performance gives the listener a sense of how the Passion might have sounded at St. Thomas church at Bach's time. Koopman is an austere artist whose interpretations of Bach's music, sacred and profane are steeped in the brisk rythms of the baroque dance mucic so the Richterian lingering over stanzas and the heavy footing cannot be found here.The accompanying of the soloists by the various musical instruments is just a conversation with the soloists where instruments and vocalists exchange ideas and feelings. The playing is superb, technically and idiomatically, and if there were a need for convincing the uninitiated that "original instruments' is the way to go then this performance has succeeded in making the point. <
>The vocal soloists on the whole are very good with Klaus Mertens (Bass) rendering a stellar performance. Highly recommended.