Reinhard Keiser Archive

REINHARD KEISER: St. Mark Passion – Soloists/ Ens. Jacques Moderne/ Gli Incogniti/ Joel Suhubiette – Mirare

by Audiophile Audition | Jun 17, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

The St. Mark Passion we wish Bach had written. REINHARD KEISER: St. Mark Passion (Bergmann Ed.) –Jan Kobow (Evangelist)/ Thomas E. Bauer (Jesus)/ Ens. Jacques Moderne/ Gli Incogniti/ Joel Suhubiette – Mirare MIR 254, 77 min. [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****: It was the castle chapel at Weimar at Good Friday in 1712 or 1713 that saw the first performance of Keiser’s St. Mark Passion, most likely under the direction of JS Bach. Bach performed it again in 1726 at the church of St. Nicholas, making some minor changes, and in fact it is difficult, as so many liturgical works of the era by any composer, to establish a “definitive” version. Keiser was one of the most brilliant minds and masterly musicians of his age, universally recognized by composers like Bach, Telemann, Mattheson, Scheibe, and Hasse, the last who said that Keiser was “one of the greatest musicians the world saw.” His career began with opera however, composing well over 70 (of which 2/3 are lost) and taking advantage of a form that was escalating in popularity. After training at the Thomasschule in Leipzig, writing his first operas for the court theater there, he advanced to Hamburg where he was […]