Of the numerous recordings on the market of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245, it seems safe to say this is one of the most unusual. It's in English, for one thing, and it's apparently the first recording of the work in English since one led by Benjamin Britten in the early 1970s. The text used is a new translation, carefully matching the prosody of the German, and it works very well, leaving the text alone (sample "Jesus of Nazareth") where the translation fits the rhythm, and altering it substantially where necessary. ...
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Of the numerous recordings on the market of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245, it seems safe to say this is one of the most unusual. It's in English, for one thing, and it's apparently the first recording of the work in English since one led by Benjamin Britten in the early 1970s. The text used is a new translation, carefully matching the prosody of the German, and it works very well, leaving the text alone (sample "Jesus of Nazareth") where the translation fits the rhythm, and altering it substantially where necessary. London's Crouch End Festival Chorus (not a choir of a choral festival, but a semi-professional group whose repertoire extends beyond classical music) is 100 singers strong, entirely diverging from the almost obligatory small choirs (even one-voice-per-part groups) that perform Bach these days. But, if you're a traditionalist getting ready to cheer the revival of the old-fashioned, massed choir-and-orchestra type of Bach performance, hold your horses: the chorus is paired with the Bach...
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