OOC: Music Geekery
One of the beauties of being fond of classical music is that you get to hear endless versions of the same tunes. And they are all imperfect, because there is no such thing as a definitive version. With the St Matthew Passion, in particular, there seems to be general consensus that there is no perfect recording. Which means that the compare-and-contrast game is fun.
Here are three examples of the first movement, "Kommt, Ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen". The first was my first introduction to the St Matthew's Passion, so it's hard for me to be neutral about it. To modern ears, it is ABSURDLY slow, and it's also played on modern rather than period instruments, so the sound quality is a bit weird. But, oh, the music unfolds with such immense beauty and dignity, and the last few minutes of this recording, as they reach the climax in which two adult choirs and one boy's choir are giving their all... it's breathtaking. Unless I've got my links mixed up, this is The Klemperer version.
Two recordings from the 1990s, both at an almost identical tempo and incidentally nearly twice as fast as the Klemperer version. First, there's The Goodman version. Goodman, in a fit of perversity, replaced the boy's choir with an organ and this is unforgiveable and a travesty and arg arg arg arg DO NOT WANT, but for some reason, he pulls off the high tempo slightly better than The Herreweghe version. The Herreweghe version is probably, all things considered, slightly prettier, since it's got the boy's choir, but there are some bad moments here, when the three choirs kinda... not clash, exactly, but create a muddle. There is just "whoa, lots of sound is currently happening" rather than clearly-defined lines and harmonies.
However, in one instance, the Herreweghe version wipes the floor with the competition. Andreas Scholl singing Erbarme dich is just... I really don't have words for this. This is easily the best recording of that particular movement, ever.
x-posted from my personal journal, because I'm sad like that.
Here are three examples of the first movement, "Kommt, Ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen". The first was my first introduction to the St Matthew's Passion, so it's hard for me to be neutral about it. To modern ears, it is ABSURDLY slow, and it's also played on modern rather than period instruments, so the sound quality is a bit weird. But, oh, the music unfolds with such immense beauty and dignity, and the last few minutes of this recording, as they reach the climax in which two adult choirs and one boy's choir are giving their all... it's breathtaking. Unless I've got my links mixed up, this is The Klemperer version.
Two recordings from the 1990s, both at an almost identical tempo and incidentally nearly twice as fast as the Klemperer version. First, there's The Goodman version. Goodman, in a fit of perversity, replaced the boy's choir with an organ and this is unforgiveable and a travesty and arg arg arg arg DO NOT WANT, but for some reason, he pulls off the high tempo slightly better than The Herreweghe version. The Herreweghe version is probably, all things considered, slightly prettier, since it's got the boy's choir, but there are some bad moments here, when the three choirs kinda... not clash, exactly, but create a muddle. There is just "whoa, lots of sound is currently happening" rather than clearly-defined lines and harmonies.
However, in one instance, the Herreweghe version wipes the floor with the competition. Andreas Scholl singing Erbarme dich is just... I really don't have words for this. This is easily the best recording of that particular movement, ever.
x-posted from my personal journal, because I'm sad like that.