"Back in the golden days of Napster I downloaded a few of these songs from someone in Italy who didn't speak English and it took me a long time to figure out who had produced it. (I also downloaded some Matthew's that I've yet to figure out.) I'm no expert but I went through a lot of Passions trying to find this one. Primarily they were too fast or too peppy. It's easy to understand the need to speed up 4-5 hours of music for the concert-goer, but that doesn't make it any less wrong. This one is dark, brooding, almost apocolyptic. The woman who sings "Dein Jesus ist tot" must be as much bird as human.
After hearing this you'll have to acknowledge that, despite all the comforts of our age, we are living in an era of deprivation to have Mel Gibson associated with the passion."
Amazing!
Gabriele Frignani | Italie | 03/07/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Something different from what normally we expect listening this music. Tempos, choruses are often pleasantly amazing. It's my 12th Johannes, what a love!"
Yes, a near miss
Lee Merrill | Raleigh, NC USA | 06/08/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The choral work and the aria soloists are superlative, though the evangelist has some lapses. The alto soloist sets the standard for "Von den stricken," as does the bass soloist with "Eilt nach Golgotha." The opening chorus, and all the chorales, are superb."