Title: superb tempi
Product review: To my opinion, the key to the ultimate listening experience is the right tempi. Bach should dance, but not in St Matthews Passion. How on earth can you dance at "Kommt, ihr Toechter helf mir klagen" (opening choir) or " Wir setzen uns mit Traenen nieder" (closing choir). In most modern performances you hear Bach at Ferrari like tempi, to make it dance. Performances of 40 years ago are really the opposite: they are so slow that you only hear tears but no Bach.Bach Metthews should relate to a gentle walk. You should feel the movements but it should be calm.I live in The Netherlands, the country where the St Matthews Passion is very much part of the national musical culture (most of us listen to St Matthews every year at the Sunday or the Friday before Eastern). I really hope that next year the tempi will be back where they should be: at the tempi of this Vanguard Classic Recording.
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