The name of Sir Georg Solti is not, perhaps, one of those that springs most readily to mind in connection with the St Matthew Passion, and I must admit that I approached this recording with some apprehensiveness—most of which, I am happy to say, was quite unnecessary The element of drama in this often highly dramatic work is, as might be expected from a conductor whose career has to a large extent been based on the opera house (notably, of course, Covent Garden), strongly emphasized, and nowhere more so than in the turba or 'crowd' choruses that are such a feature of the St Matthew Passion. The Chicago Symphony Chorus are an impressive body, with excellent enunciation and a good command of German, and their contribution to this performance most obviously in ''Sind Blitze, sind Donner in Wolken verschwunden'', is one of its most commanding features Solti's treatment of many of the other big choruses, particularly the massive opening and closing ones may strike some ears as hard-driven and over-emphatic; but it is never dull, never leaden, and his handling of the chorales is always fluid, without the exaggerated pauses between lines that often distort their flow, and it covers a remarkably wide dynamic spectrum.
He has a sensitive, eloquent, but never self-indulgent, Evangelist in Hans-Peter Blochwitz (the solo tenor in Philippe Herreweghe's Harmonia Mundi performance), and a fine, young-sounding Jesus in Olaf Bar (the High Priest in Peter Schreier's Philips version), and his quartet of soloists is outstanding Anthony Rolfe Johnson is exceptionally stirring and impassioned in ''O Schmerz! Hier zittert das gequalte Herz'' and ''Geduld, wenn mich falsche Zungen stechen'', with its cello obbligato, and Tom Krause is magnificent in ''Komm susses Kreuz'', with its viola da gamba obbligato, and ''Mache dich, mein Herze, rein'' Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is very moving in ''Ich will dir mein Herze schenken'', if a shade detached in the lovely ''Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben'', with its unique accompaniment for flute and two oboi da caccia, and Anne Sofie von Otter's rich but never plummy mezzo brings gravity and compassion to ''Buss und Reu'' and ''Erbarme dich, mein Gott'', without making them heavy or sententious The recitatives are handled, where appropriate (as in the rending of the veil of the temple) with considerable dramatic flair, but the sound of the continuo chamber organ has a curiously synthetic quality, and it is not played with much imagination Decca's recording is very fine, with a good stereophonic sense (extremely important in the St Matthew Passion, with its two antiphonal cori) and impressive dynamic range.
Of the three versions offered for comparison Karaian's, on DG, which I discussed in some detail last month, was originally issued in 1973, has an impressive line-up of soloists (including Peter Schreier as Evangelist and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Jesus, Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Horst Laubenthal and Walter Berry), but it will only appeal to those who like their Bach performed in an old-fashioned, romantic way (which Solti does not, despite his use of large forces, and his 'big' approach to the choruses) At the other extreme is Philippe Herreweghe's performance: perhaps the most appealing of the 'authentic', low-pitch versions, with a good, but not starry, solo team (Howard Crook, Ulrik Cold Barbara Schlick, Rene Jacobs, Hans Peter Blochwitz and Peter Kooy), sensitive choral singing and instrumental playing and a devotional feeling that is missing from Solti's reading; but I do dislike the way Herreweghe pauses between each line of the chorales. Peter Schreier's performance lies somewhere between Solti's and Herreweghe's, and has much to commend it, not least Schreier's own contribution as Evangelist (at least his third appearance on records in this capacity) and his intensely perceptive and musical approach to this great score. He, too, has a fine team of soloists (Theo Adam, Lucia Popp, Marjana Lipovsek, Eberhard Buchner and Robert Holl) and secures magnificent support from the Leipzig Radio Chorus and the Staatskapelle, Dresden. I would put Schreier and Herreweghe high on my list, but Solti's version is definitely one to be reckoned with.'