Bach, Matthäuspassion (St Matthew Passion), BWV 244

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)

Composer:	Johann Sebastian Bach
Title:	Bach, Matthäuspassion (St Matthew Passion), BWV 244
Conductor:	Karl Richter
Soloist:	Peter Schreier, Ernst Gerold Schramm, Helen Donath, Julia Hamari, Horst Laubenthal
Orchestra:	Münchner Bach-Orchester
Chorus:	Münchner Bach-Chor, Münchner Chorknaben
Video Director:	Hugo Käch
Genre:	Concert
Length:	199 minutes
Cat.No.:	A05004492