Bach: The Passions (St John Passion; Matthew Passion) /Suzuki

Masaaki Suzuki's Bach Collegium Japan have made a name for themselves as one of the leading ensembles specialising in Bach's music, and their series of cantatas really is worth looking into. This set of CDs, bringing together Bach's two greatest choral works, combines recordings made some time ago (1998 for the St John and 1999 for the St Matthew), and it is an excellent opportunity to get to know two remarkable pieces of music.If you don't know them already, they were both written for church services on Good Friday, and they tell the story of Christ's crucifixion. They are based around an Evangelist (solo tenor), singing the words of the gospel, but they also include choruses where the choir becomes people in the story, arias, and chorales to be sung by the choir and the congregation together. The thing that struck me most about hearing them together is how different they are: the St Matthew is massive, and one feels in awe of the music. The St John, by contrast, is a hectic, helter-skelter piece, where the choruses of crowds crying for Christ's death seem to pile up, one on the other. Each contains some staggeringly beautiful music, and it's wonderful to have "Erbarme Dich" and "Mein teurer Heiland" to hand in one box.There are many recordings available of these two works (although not an overwhelming number: they are complicated and expensive to record), and I had high hopes of this set, having enjoyed the cantata recordings by the BCJ. However, while there is some wonderful music-making on each one, neither is entirely satisfactory. Granted, the choir is immaculately drilled (the German is spot on), and the orchestra plays with great style, but I never warmed to what I was hearing.The soloists on each are in many ways excellent, and Peter Kooy is always worth listening to. Robin Blaze possesses a beautiful voice, and Gerd Turk does a very good job of the Evangelist's part (miles better than Bostridge, although not as good as Rolfe-Johnson). However, the alto Yoshikazu Mera (St John Passion)is deeply uninspiring - at times rank and flat, and the bass Makoto Sakurada (St Matthew) makes a nice enough noise, but never really gets to the heart of the music.It seems harsh to criticise this too much, as the music-making is flawless in many ways, but that is also the recordings' weakness: so much attention has been paid trying to achieve perfection that the soul of the music has been lost. I would dearly love to hear Suzuki record this music again, though!

I really recommend it.

St Matthew's passion sets the heart alight with the passion narrative interwoven with chorales and hymns. It is a direct appeal to the listener to somehow enter into this extraordinary mystery of the christian faith; He, True God, True Man, dies in agony on the cross for us. And, Suzuki treats this music with the religiosity it deserves, not as a concert entertainment piece but as an entering into a sacred mystery. His approach is much preferred to that of say John Elliott Gardiner. And, of course, the set includes the St John's passion, which is also a wonderful work. Top marks go to Robin Blaze, a wonderful countertenor.

I lost this CD back in 2008, once this is back in stock, I shall re purchase it. :D