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Reviewer: James
A. Altena
This set arrived shortly after I wrote my review of Richard Egarr’s
recording of the
Brockes Passion with the Academy of Ancient Music, and just before the
submission deadline. As it is, I can be brief here, for this rendition is
inferior not only to Egarr’s, but also to those by
Laurence Cummings (Accent, 2019), Peter Neumann (Carus, 2009), and even
Nicholas McGegan (Hungaroton, 1985). My previous exposure to Mortensen has
taught me to expect highly affected, almost perverse readings from him.
While this is nowhere near as eccentric as his Bach B-Minor Mass, there are
still some peculiar ticks. Phrasing sometimes seems stop-and-go, jerky, and
stilted. There is a lack of genuine emotional warmth, as opposed to
self-conscious effect. Some strange decisions have been made, such as to
apportion the part of the Daughter of Zion between three singers rather than
just one, and to give the multiple parts of the Faithful Soul to just one
singer. As for the singers, the sopranos all have the whitish sound with a
slightly hooty edge that is peculiarly cultivated in some HIP circles.
Veteran bass Peter Harvey is a fine Jesus, but simply not as rich in voice
as Cody Quattlebaum for Egarr. As the Evangelist, tenor Ed Lyon often adopts
a bleating tone that is decidedly off-putting, and is entirely outclassed by
Robert Murray. The lesser soloists are generally solid, especially bass
Jakob Bloch Jespersen, whose reference-standard recordings of the three
Passion settings of Heinrich Schultz I endorsed back in 25:4; Gwilym Bowen
repeats the role of Peter from the Egarr set. The instrumentalists and
chorus execute their parts well, but their tone is drier and edgier, even
though the overall tempos are slightly slower. The totality is by no means
bad; it is simply inferior to much of the existing competition. As usual,
CPO provides fine recorded sound and a detailed booklet, here including a
full English-German libretto. If this were the only recording of this work,
one would welcome it as a fine effort; but, to invert an old saying, the
best is the enemy of the merely good, and this is simply not the best.
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