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BACH: St. John Passion – Soloists/RIAS Ch. Choir/ Academy for Old Music Berlin/ Rene Jacobs – Harmonia mundi (2 discs)

BACH: St. John Passion – Soloists/RIAS Ch. Choir/ Academy for Old Music Berlin/ Rene Jacobs – Harmonia mundi (2 discs)

by | Jun 6, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

Outstanding in every facet, this could be, just maybe, the one to own. BACH: St. John Passion (1749 + 1725 Appendix) – Werner Gura, tenor/ Sumhae Im, sop/ Benno Schachtner, alto/ Sebastian Kohlhepp, tenor/ Johannes Weisser, bass/ RIAS Chamber Choir/ Academy for Old Music Berlin/ Rene Jacobs – Harmonia mundi multichannel SACD (2 discs) + DVD HMC 802236.37, 2:15:20 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] *****: This is the version completed right at the end of Bach’s life, with the powerful and familiarly haunting “Herr, Herr, Herr” in the opening chorus. I mention this because there is an appendix from the 1725 version that includes some numbers also rather popular but not in the regular performing version presented here, and the opening of that earlier edition is absent the aforementioned chorus. However, in a generous and wonderfully intelligent decision by Harmonia mundi, they have included three free downloads, one of the 1749 version given in toto here, and also the complete 1725 edition as well, both offered in a high def 24 bit FLAC file, about ten times the size of a normal 128kbps MP3 file. This is a great treat, and you can even give the third download to a friend […]