Bach St. Matthew Passion oratorio. Ritualised (directed) 2010 by Peter Sellers at the Philharmonie in Berlin. Stars tenor Mark Padmore (Evangelist or John the Baptist), bass Christian Gerhaher (Jesus), soprano Camilla Tilling, contralto Magdalena Kozena, tenor Topi Lehtipuu, and bass Thomas Quasthoff (recitatives and arias), Jörg Schneider (Judas), Sören von Billerbeck (Peter), Axel Scheidig (Pontius Pilate), Christine Lichtenberg (1st Witness), Holgar Marks (2nd Witness), David Stingl (1st High Priest), Thomas Pfützner (2nd High Priest), Isabelle Voßkühler (1st Maiden), Christina Bischoff )(2nd Maiden), and Barbara Kind (Wife of Pontius Pilate). Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Rundfunkchor Berlin (Chorus Master Simon Halsey), and the Knaben des Staats und Domchors Berlin (Chorus Master Kai-Kwe Jirka). Music has runtime of 195 minutes and there is a 51-minute bonus extra with Peter Sellers in conversation with Simon Halsey. Directed for TV by Daniel Finkerhagel and Alexander Lück. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Luxury package also has 2 DVDs and other extra features. Grade: NA
Matthew Gurewitsch reports in the August 2012 Opera News (page 60) that Simon Rattle himself calls the performance recorded here "the single most important thing we ever did here."
There are many YT clips about this famous recording such as the two below:
The Berlin Phil has one of the most aggressive distribution program in the business. See their website to learn what they offer. They also now work with Amazon, which can be reached with the button below.
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