Bach - St. John Passion / Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan

Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly stylistic performance
Review: Masaaki Suzuki's series of Bach cantatas has proved to be a success because of the utmost care about the subtlest details on performing Bach's music. More than that, his group, the Bach Collegium Japan, has a most exquisite sound and he has a nicest team of soloists. They generally record in the fabulous acoustics of the Shoin Women's University Chapel, but here they are in what I believe to be in the Suntory Hall. However, the acoustics are appropriately warm and immediate. Suzuki's style as a Bach conductor is very clean and light. Some may find that, for St.John's Passion, it is seriously lacking in drama, but I think that any Bachian should be delighted to listen to Bach's music played in such a well-thought and faultless way. More than that - there is genuine freshness and naturality in Suzuki's approach and this is very rewarding. He uses a small orchestra with period instruments and uses a small choir, with the soloists joining their colleagues for the choral moments. They produce a wonderfully articulate sound and have clean pronunciation - only they are not particularly illustrative of what is going on in the text. As alwaysSuzuki also has nice soloists, Midori Suzuki's boyish soprano is particularly delightful, but Robin Blaze is wonderfully stylist and offers an easiest voice and has no problem about his low notes, which are perfectly connected to the rest, but produce enough sound. Gerd Türk is also an asset, for his lightest spontaneous tenor takes readily to the high tessitura in which he has to sing his recitatives.