You wouldn't guess that Marc Minkowski, a French conductor of Polish and American background, would be a natural for Bach, and indeed he has focused more on French Baroque music than on German music during his long career. Likewise, the Louvre and its Musiciens (even if they're now Grenoblois) do not have Bach in their bones. The soloists in this reading of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245, deliver their lines convincingly, but do not stand out. Yet for all this, what's on offer here is a compelling Johannes-Passion. In the ...
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You wouldn't guess that Marc Minkowski, a French conductor of Polish and American background, would be a natural for Bach, and indeed he has focused more on French Baroque music than on German music during his long career. Likewise, the Louvre and its Musiciens (even if they're now Grenoblois) do not have Bach in their bones. The soloists in this reading of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245, deliver their lines convincingly, but do not stand out. Yet for all this, what's on offer here is a compelling Johannes-Passion. In the interview-style booklet notes, Minkowski calls the work "the most violent, vivid, and dramatic score of its time." That might lead you to expect a blood-and-thunder reading, but Minkowski and his singers and musicians deliver something better: an interpretation that is sharp, biting. Minkowski uses an unusual configuration of fairly large orchestra (25 musicians) and small choir (eight crack singers, perhaps a reasonable compromise between traditional choirs and one-voice-per-part...
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