This splendid recording of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245, by the Cleveland, Ohio, group Apollo's Fire and its director, Jeannette Sorrell, was recorded live at a Cleveland church and was derived from live performances given in New York according to a concept Sorrell devised. Although Apollo's Fire is oriented toward historical performance, there's no evidence that anybody in Bach's time ever performed the work this way. Yet, against the odds, it works well live, according to reports, and certainly on this recording. ...
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This splendid recording of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245, by the Cleveland, Ohio, group Apollo's Fire and its director, Jeannette Sorrell, was recorded live at a Cleveland church and was derived from live performances given in New York according to a concept Sorrell devised. Although Apollo's Fire is oriented toward historical performance, there's no evidence that anybody in Bach's time ever performed the work this way. Yet, against the odds, it works well live, according to reports, and certainly on this recording. Essentially, the New York performances involved a semi-staged version of the work, with the soloists interacting physically according to the drama (and singing without musical scores), and the choir dispersed through the audience. The latter doesn't seem to have happened in this Cleveland performance, although the soloists look from the pictures (and sound) like they sang to each other rather than to the audience. Even if the realization was a bit less unusual, this is still unlike any...
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