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Johann Sebastian BACH (1685 - 1750): St John Passion (BWV 245)
Ying Fang, soprano;
Lucile Richardot, contralto;
Laurence Kilsby, Julian Prégardien (Evangelist), tenor;
Étienne Bazola (Petrus), Christian Immler (Pilatus), Huw Montague Rendall (Jesus), bass
Pygmalion
Dir: Raphaël Pichon
rec: April 2025, Namur, Grand Manège
Harmonia mundi - HMM 902774.75 (© 2026) (1.56'06")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: E/F
Cover, track-list & booklet
Score
Spotify
Camille Allérat, Armelle Cardot, Anne-Emmanuelle Davy, Eugénie de Padirac, Perrine Devillers, Nadia Lavoyer, soprano;
Anaïs Bertrand, Marie Pouchelon, contralto;
Philippe Barth, Yann Rolland, alto;
Constantin Goubet, Guillaume Gutierrez, François-Olivier Jean, Randol Rodriguez, tenor;
Étienne Bazola, Renaud Brès, Ahmed Gomez, Pierre Virly, Emmanuel Vistorky, bass
Georgia Browne, Raquel Martorell Dorta, transverse flute;
Jasu Moisio, Lidewei De Sterck, oboe;
Evolène Kiener, bassoon;
Robert Percival, contrabassoon;
Sophie Gent, Louis Creac’h, violin, viola d'amore;
Izleh Henry, Sophia Prodanova, Yoko Kawakubo, Yukiko Tezuka, Sandrine Dupé, Gabriel Ferry, Béatrice Linon, violin;
Katya Polin, Josèphe Cottet, Marta Páramo, viola;
Antoine Touche, Gulrim Choï, cello;
Julien Léonard, viola da gamba;
Thomas de Pierrefeu, violone;
Thibaut Roussel, theorbo;
Ronan Khalil, harpsichord;
Pierre Gallon, organ
Not a year goes by without at least one new recording of one of Johann Sebastian Bach's Passions. The list of available performances is pretty long. Every Bach lover has one or more of them in his collection. The question that may be asked with yet another new recording is whether it adds anything to what is already available. I do not know all the recordings, but it seems highly likely that the answer in the case of the recording of the St John Passion discussed here must be affirmative. Whether Raphaël Pichon's approach does justice to the work is another question. I am inclined to say 'no'.
The line-up could be called 'traditional': soloists, choir and orchestra. The choir consists of 19 singers: six sopranos, four altos (male/female), four tenors and five basses. For the roles of Peter and Pilate, which are sung by members of the choir in some recordings, 'external' soloists have been engaged here. The booklet does not mention who sings the arioso and bass arias; I assume it is Huw Montague Rendall, who also takes on the part of Jesus.
Let me first take a look at the soloists, and specifically their style of singing. Julian Prégardien covers a wide repertoire from all stylistic periods. His voice is particularly well-suited for baroque music, as is once again evident here. Essential for the role of the Evangelist is excellent articulation, diction, and pronunciation, and in that regard he leaves nothing to be desired. I cannot recall having heard Huw Montague Rendall before. I don't really like his voice, which obviously a matter of taste. However, he also produces a vibrato that, although not wide, is unsuitable. The same applies to the tenor Laurence Kilsby; I would have preferred another voice. Ying Fang, like Rendall, is a name unknown to me. She possesses a beautiful voice, which she uses well. Now and then her singing is marred by a little too much vibrato, but overall I appreciated her performances. Lucile Richardot is a special case. She produces a unique sound that is very recognizable. I prefer a male voice in the alto parts of Bach's Passions, but when she sings those parts, I have no problem with that whatsoever. The roles of Peter and Pilate are well cast. Étienne Bazola and Christian Immler frequently participate in early music performances and have the appropriate voices. Choir and orchestra are both top-notch.
In some reviews Raphaël Pichon's interpretation is compared to opera, and that seems to me a good characterization. And that is exactly my problem with it. I am not saying that the St John Passion is not a dramatic work. On the contrary: because it has fewer arias, it is more dramatic than the St Matthew Passion. But in my view, here the dramatic character is interpreted in a way that has little to do with the liturgical character of this work.
The opening chorus sets the tone. The instrumental introduction is characterized by strong dynamic accents, which seems entirely justified to me. However, the tempo is too high, as is the case in many recent recordings. The articulation suffers from it, and in the vocal part, the effect is that the text is not conveyed that well. In his commentary, Pichon writes: "The listeners are gripped right from the start by Bach's brutal opening bars, plunging them into a concentrate of raw, visceral hatred – a turbulent, furious sea into which the whole of humanity is pitched." In my view, this is rather one-sided. The threat is evident, witness the harmonic development. However, the vocal part opens with a reference to Psalm 8, which sings of God's omnipotence. That is no coincidence: it typifies the character of the Gospel of John, in which Jesus is not merely a victim, but ultimately also and above all the director of the play. The opening chorus is the inscription that explains how the events must be interpreted. Every interpretation of the St John Passion has to start with an interpretation of the Gospel. It opens in the very first chapter by making clear who is in charge. That is perfectly expressed in the Passion's opening chorus. In this performance the dark streaks are exposed in a way that is too demonstrative.
Striking in this performance is the treatment of tempo and dynamics. Variety in both seems justified; that is a hallmark of baroque music. However, the contrasts in tempo and dynamics raise quite a few questions. In many cases, I have no idea why the tempo suddenly slows down or the dynamics are reduced to piano. This applies primarily to the part of the Evangelist. Take No. 10, for instance, where it is reported that a fire has been made in the high priest's palace, "denn es war kalt" (for it was cold). Why are these words sung slowly and in piano? This is nothing special: only an explanation, which should not be given special weight. In No. 27c, it is stated that several women are standing by the cross. This is sung unnaturally slowly, as is Jesus' instruction to John to take care of Mary. When the Evangelist reports that Barabbas was a murderer, Prégardien produces an "outraged shriek" — the characterization is from the reviewer of The Guardian. He judges this positively — wrongly so. The tempo of "geisselte" is really too fast. Finally: Prégardien takes too little rhythmic freedom in the way he sings the recitatives, but that is undoubtedly at Pichon's instruction.
Unfortunately I need to repeat what I have written in reviews of other recordings of in particular Bach's Passions (but it also regards other recordings): the instructions one can find in writings from the 18th century (for instance by Georg Philipp Telemann) about the way the appoggiaturas need to be interpreted, are mostly ignored. That goes not only for Prégardien, but also other singers in their recitatives.
Overall, I am satisfied with the way the chorales are sung. That seems easy, but it is not. Often, these are the weak spots in a performance. However, many chorales are marred by strange dynamic contrasts. Why is the opening of the second stanza of *Wer hat dich so geschlagen* (No. 11) — "Ich, ich, und meine Sünden" — sung piano? And why the final line of the last chorale of Part 1: "Rühre mein Gewissen"? In 'Durch dein Gefängnis, Gottes Sohn' (No. 22), the dynamics constantly shift; it is a mystery to me what the reason for this might be. The use of dynamics sometimes feels almost romantic, which is confirmed by a few moments where even an audible crescendo is applied. Perhaps these kinds of inconsistencies are the logical consequence of Pichon's approach. But the decision to suddenly have the soloists sing the B-section of the final chorus has nothing to do with that. Again, I cannot find a logical explanation for this. Otherwise, the turbae are among the strenghts of this recording.
Let me return to the soloists. Ying Fang's arias are generally well executed, thanks to good articulation and the colouring of her voice. The contrast between them comes off quite well. Lucile Richardot's interpretation of 'Von den Stricken' is very convincing, both musically and with regard to the text, showing clear commitment to its content. The same applies to 'Es ist vollbracht', which is sung beautifully. Her contributions are the highlights of this recording. Laurence Kilsby's 'Ach, mein Sinn' lacks some weight, also due to the tempo, which is too fast. 'Erwäge, wie sein flutgefärbter Rücken' is well done, though. Huw Montague Rendall's interpretation of the role of Jesus has sufficient weight but does not really make much of an impression. The arioso 'Betrachte meine Seel' is seriously damaged by his vibrato (the closing chord is held ridiculously long, which is not his fault). 'Eilt, ihr angefocht'nen Seelen' is much better; the fast tempo seems appropriate. 'Mein teurer Heiland' suffers again from his vibrato. It also lacks depth, but fortunately the end of this aria, which includes the core of this work, is given enough weight.
Raphaël Pichon defends his interpretation with conviction. As far as I can judge, it is certainly a substantial addition to what is available. However, Bach's music is not for grabs: one cannot do with it whatever one likes. Too often his music is the victim of very personal and subjective interpretations which are at odds with their intentions and the circumstances under which they have been originally performed. This may be partly due to the fact that Bach is placed on a pedestal, and his music treated as something Very Special. I would rather like it being brought back to earth. Bach's Passions are, just like comparable works by other composers, liturgical works and not primarily Great Art. That calls for a more modest approach inspired by their liturgical function. I often miss that, and this recording is no exception.
Johan van Veen (© 2026)
Relevant links:
Étienne Bazola
Christian Immler
Laurence Kilsby
Julian Prégardien
Huw Montague Randall
Pygmalion