In the Last Supper segment, Jesus summons together his disciples on the
first night of Passover.  We all know what happens at that supper.  Most
of the dialogue involves the Evangelist and Jesus; there's also a gorgeous
choral.  Then, a soprano recitative and aria close out the section.  The
aria is optimistic and rather playful with the oboe d'amore singing with
satisfaction and youthfulness.

Concerning the Last Supper, there is the question of how animated Jesus and
his disciples were during that meal.  The conversational themes during the
supper are certainly dramatic.  However, I've always had the impression
that emotions were relatively restrained based on Jesus already knowing
about the upcoming betrayl and its necessity; given his leadership
position, I think it reasonable that the emotional levels did not get
out of hand.

Harnoncourt's version presents two problems.  First, Matthias Goerne
as Jesus over-emotes and seems frantic at times, as if he had no idea
ahead of time about Judas and his betrayl.  Second, Harnoncourt provides
insufficient lift to the aria with a staid performance.  That's a shame
since Christine Schafer has a great and youthful voice.

Although on the quick side, Thomas does very well until the soprano enters.
I'm particularly impressed with William Sharp as Jesus who is much more
effective than Goerne.  Catherine Bott is another matter.  She is not in
fine voice at all.  Also, Thomas is too fast in the aria.

Herreweghe I has great choral work, effective contributions from the
Evangelist and Jesus, and a wonderful rhythm to the aria.  However, the
aria does not play into the urgent/tension based strengths of Barbara
Schlick - bad casting.

Herreweghe II possesses all the fine qualities of the earlier issue
with the added pleasure of the superb Ian Bostridge and soprano Sibylla
Rubens who is much more suited for the aria than Barbara Schlick.  I find
Bostridge's voice an amazing instrument with great mobility.  Rubens has
just the right mood as her mildly deep soprano voice blends beautifully
with her playful delivery.  Overall, Herreweghe would be a hard act to
surpass.

Veldhoven and company do a fine job with effective choral work and dialogue
although I'm not impressed with the voice of Geert Smits.  Veldhoven
directs well and soprano Johannette Zomer is almost as good as Rubens in
the aria.  However, nothing is exceptional whereas Herreweghe II is
consistently so.

Gardiner, like Thomas, is quite fast in the soprano aria.  Part of the
text is, "I will submerge myself in thee".  My view is that a slower tempo
along the lines of most of the other versions better conveys those feelings.
Barbara Bonney, although not all that expressive in the aria, has the right
tone and quite a lovely voice.  Anthony Rolfe Johnson is excellent in his
Evangelist role.  Overall, the segment is quite good except for the fast
tempo in the aria.

Klemperer and chorus provide a thoroughly spiritually uplifitng conclusion
to the choral which is ever so slow; the tempo is very effective.  The aria
is also slow paced and gorgeous; you won't find a more expressive soloist
on record than Schwarzkopf although I again find her tonal beauty not
admirable.

Suzuki is excellent and only surpassed by Herreweghe II.  My sole
Reservation is a choral with less expressiveness than provided by most
of the other versions.  Gerd Terk and Peter Kooy are wonderful with the
dialogue, and the aria has a great bounce and vitality; Nancy Argenta
handles her role effectively with a youthful and relatively exuberant
voice.

Spering goes with the two major cuts in this segment, one of them being
the aria.  It doesn't bother me that some dialogue is cut; I think the
text here too wordy.  Cutting the aria does bother me.  It's a lovely and
uplifting piece of vocal music, and I sure don't want it gone simply to
adhere to some subsequent revision.  I blame Mendelssohn for creating this
omission and Spering for his complicity.  Just because someone rips some
music out of a score doesn't require that anybody follow suit.  Put another
way, I think it's idiotic to erase one of the best arias from the St.
Matthew Passion.  Also, there are not a wealth of arias to begin with in
this long Passion.  I've known for many years that Mendelssohn and I are
not on similar wavelengths, and this is just further evidence.  Spering's
Last Supper is a bomb.

The next segment revolves around Jesus' despair.  Look at it his way.  His
best friends on Earth are going to deny they ever knew him; Jesus loses out
to the survival instinct.  He has given of himself over and over again, but
nobody is there to give to him; in a sense, Jesus is totally alone.  He has
humiliation, rejection, beatings, and a horrible death waiting for him.  He
will emotionally be a wreck before he is even arrested.  So Jesus was on
the Mount feeling like any human would under the dire circumstances except
that he had an additional burden - the sins of the world.

Some of the best music in the St.  Matthew Passion or any other musical
source is in this segment.  The opening recitative of the Evangelist and
Jesus has dynamite blasting out from the strings.  The chorals are justly
famous and differ in such subtle ways.  And the best comes last - an aria
for tenor and chorus which is another of those Bach compositions which
seems to come from the heavens.  It starts with an oboe solo which is so
soothing and yet edgy also.  The music gets even better with the entrance
of the tenor who re-emphasizes the bitter/sweet contrasts of life.  Then
out of nowhere, the chorus takes over and I am lifted to other worlds.
Jesus has been alone, but the watchman will stay by his side as he sleeps.

Harnoncourt gives the least rewarding performances during this segment
for two reasons.  First, the two chorals sound aggressive and forced.  The
beginning of the first choral is ridiculously forced and matters improve
little after that.  Harnoncourt is often chided for aggressive direction,
and the two chorals are a perfect example of it.  Second, the tenor in the
aria, Michael Schade, keeps yelling into my ears; I don't know what his
problem might be but I prefer not to be yelled at.

Veldhoven doesn't hold up well to the competition, and his handling of a
fast tempo plays a major part.  It isn't that this tempo can't work well,
but that Veldhoven loses some rhythmic bounce.  Although a fast version,
it seemed too long and that can't be good.  The tenor soloist, Hans Jorg
Mammel, has a nice sounding instrument but it does not ring out well when
needed.  The choral work is good but not distinguished.

The Spering and Suzuki versions are fine ones.  Neither gets distinguished
singing from their tenor soloist, but the choral work is excellent.
Spering, in the opening recitative, does not provide any dynamite from his
strings, but the tenor/choral recitative is one of the best I've heard.

Herreweghe II is wonderful throughout.  Ian Bostridge is superb and
the bass Franz-Joseph Selig is also highly effective.  The chorals are
magnificent.  The most impressive part is the tenor aria.  There's a strong
sense of comfort from the text and music, but it is contrasted in both by
urgency and nerves on edge.  Herreweghe's chorus seems to instinctively
identify with these feelings.  The tenor Werner Gura does not have one of
the beautiful voices in the world, but it goes wherever Gura wants it to in
such a seamless manner.  Most important, he perfectly conveys the moods of
the music.  To get the most out the aria, the contrasts in emotions need to
be embedded in the performers; Herreweghe and company are right in there.

Although not at Herreweghe's superior level, the Jeffrey Thomas
performances are excellent.  Thomas' problems have mainly involved very
fast tempos.  In Jesus' Despair, he actually tends toward slower than
average tempos.  The results are very impressive.  The tenor Benjamin
Butterfield has a more attractive voice than Werner Gura, and he uses it
very well.  What holds back the Thomas version from reaching Herreweghe
II is a relatively smooth performance of the tenor aria.  The comfort is
there in large supply but the nerves are not on edge at all for Thomas,
his chorus, or Butterfield.  It's a gorgeous performance, but Herreweghe
offers more.

Klemperer is much slower than Thomas; at this slow tempo it would be
difficult to convey nervous edge, and Klemperer doesn't attempt to do
so.  That puts him in Thomas' camp, but Klemperer is not as effective.
The opening recitative has insufficient power, the choruses are a little
ponderous, and the tenor Nicolai Gedda has a voice I find rather
unattractive.  Klemperer's performances are better than Harnoncourt's in
Jesus' Despair but provide marginal rewards.

Herreweghe's earlier performances on Harmonia Mundi display the same
instinctive elements of his more recent ones.  However, I find there's a
little greater urgency in the newer ones likely benefitting from a quicker
tempo.  Also, I prefer Werner Gerner in the aria to Hans-Peter Blochwitz.

Gardiner is at the high level of Herreweghe I.  The recitatives are
excellent as are the chorals.  Gardiner is superb in contrasting the moods
of the tenor aria; his tenor Howard Crook is very good although not as
expressive as Werner Gura for Herreweghe II.

In the next segment, Jesus' Prayer, the disciples are sleeping after
their last supper.  This does not plese Jesus at all, as he is feeling
neglected on the same night that he will be arrested.  Needing emotional
sustenance, Jesus prays to God three times; of course, that number has
a symbolic reference.  Musically, the segment has recitatives mainly
involving the Evangelist and Jesus, a choral, and a bass recitative and
aria.  Particularly significant as to text is the bass recitative where
Jesus drinks a liquid which contains all the sins of the world; he now owns
these sins as he prepares for his coming arrest.

Veldhoven is rather quick in Jesus' Prayer, particularly in the bass aria
and the choral.  Again, I find little to recommend Geert Smits as Jesus.
Peter Kooy does well in the bass recitative and aria, although I have heard
him in better voice.  The quick choral has a somewhat perfunctory element
to it.

Herreweghe I significantly improves on Veldhoven's performances.  As Jesus,
Ulrik Cold displays much better tonal beauty than Geert Smits.  Also, Peter
Kooy sounds more attractive of voice than in his performance for Veldhoven.
The choral has exemplary weight with superb singing.

Herreweghe II is as effective as the earlier issue except that I prefer the
voice of Peter Kooy to Dietrich Henschel.  Once again, I am totally taken
with the voice of Ian Bostridge as the Evangelist.

Gardiner gets excellent support from Anthony Rolfe Johnson as the
Evangelist, Andreas Schimidt as Jesus, and Olaf Bar in the bass recitative
and aria.  However, Gardiner can not match Herreweghe I in the choral;
Gardiner's pace is as quick as Veldhoven's, and the chorus sounds like it's
just going through the paces.

Harnoncourt is at Gardiner's level.  His chorus displays greater expression
and weight than Gardiner's.  However, Oliver Widmer is not distinguished
in the bass recitative and aria; also, Matthias Goerne continues, in my
opinion, to convey excessive drama in his voice.  Goerne has a fantastic
vocal instrument, but I feel he's overdoing it as if the goal is impress
listeners more than portray a specific character.

Klemperer's slow pacing continues unabated.  It is very effective in
the choral, less so in the bass aria which clocks in at over six minutes;
the slow performance from Herreweghe I lasts under five minutes.  I find
Klemperer's aria to drag slightly.  However, he has wonderful vocal support
from Fischer-Dieskau as Jesus and Walter Berry in the bass recitative and
aria.  Overall, this version is better than the others excepting for both
Herreweghe versions.

Jeffrey Thomas is as impressive as Klemperer and Herreweghe II.  My
affection for William Sharp's Jesus just keeps growing.  Thomas does not
employ any excessively quick tempos, and the choral has fine weight and
expressiveness.  The only rather ordinary aspect is the singing of
Nathaniel Watson in the bass recitative/aria.

Suzuki also provides impressive performances.  His quick paced bass aria
has great urgency, and the choral is excellent.  The solo vocalists are
quite good; Peter Kooy here takes the role of Jesus and is almost as
effective as Fischer-Dieskau.

Spering provides a lovely and slow choral, although a little greater
weight would have been appreciated.  Unfortunately, two cuts make this
segment a non-starter.  Both the bass recitative and aria are gone from
this arrangement.  I find two problems with the cuts.  First, the balance
among recitatives, chorals, and arias is disturbed.  Second, the bass
recitative has great significance in that Jesus drinks and absorbs all the
sins and stink of the world.  This act prepares him for his crucifixion,
eventual reunion with God, and the shedding of sin from humanity.  I'm
starting to wish that Mendelssohn has messed around with one of his own
compositions where no harm could be done instead of with Bach's St.
Matthew Passion.  Regardless of the quality of Spering's direction,
he can't possibly overcome the flagrant cuts made by Mendelssohn who
takes perfection and throws it away.  Arrogance and bad judgement make
Mendelssohn's arrangement a poor substitute.  I am interested in hearing
from others concerning these cuts and what you think of them.

Part 3 is going to heat up the action as Jesus is arrested and interrogated
by the High Priests.  So far, my preference for the Herreweghe versions
remains strong with Gardiner and Suzuki at the next best level.  Spering's
revised St.  Matthew is looking like a truncated travesty of only
historical interest.  As for Harnoncourt, I'm not finding it one of the
more distinguished versions.  A combination of some aggressive direction
from Harnoncourt and less than sterling singing joins with Goerne's
exaggerated Jesus to provide an interpretation which is only competitive.

Don Satz
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