Bach: St. John Passion
Nick Pritchard (Evangelist), William Thomas (Christus), Alex Ashworth (Pilatus), Julia Doyle (soprano), Alexander Chance (countertenor), Peter Davoren (tenor)
Monteverdi Choir
Sir John Eliot Gardiner / English Baroque Soloists (DG)
(scroll down for English review)
賈丁納第三次灌錄巴哈《約翰受難曲》，是在去年耶穌受難日，於牛津Sheldonian Theatre以無觀眾，樂師及合唱都用社交距離地錄音及錄影。雖然賈丁納老當益壯，甚至比以前更火爆（不只是錄音，我在現場也體驗過），但這樣爆炸的原音派《約翰受難曲》仍是我意料之外，相比起鈴木雅明在2020年帶團到德國巡迴，然後遇上歐洲開始封城，趕在閉館最後一刻在科隆愛樂廳錄的《約翰受難曲》，賈丁納這個錄音才真的有末世感覺。
我覺得場地的音響特質，真的把聲音擴大了一些，加上社交距離下合唱團員一個一個的站得很開，收音無法對得很準，音質粗糙了，卻把更多的殘響都錄得到。其實不只開頭的合唱，在好多段落，尤其是耶穌的審判，合唱都呈現到如暴民般的怒火，這麼宏大的合唱聲響，幾乎令這個錄音失去了原音派的資格……《約翰受難曲》又比《馬太受難曲》更倚重合唱，合唱團錄得爆，實在有很大分別。
賈丁納特別喜歡用年輕歌手，獨唱上沒錯是達不到最高水平，但至少不會像很多古樂錄音般，指揮或古樂團不同，但獨唱來來去去都是那批，又或者像雅各斯那般，有很固定的班底。男高音Nick Pritchard的福音作者，既對唱詞非常敏感，又不會像其他英國前輩例如Padmore或博斯捷般誇張，男低音William Thomas的耶穌雖未夠火喉，但假以時日就會成熟，這裏的獨唱我一個都不識，或者就會是未來十或二十年的古樂名家？
This is Gardiner’s third recording of the St. John Passion and it was recorded on Good Friday, 2021. The venue was Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre, the singers and musicians were placed in a social distancing grid. Approaching his eighties Gardiner’s temperament is fiery as ever but I didn’t expect such violence in the chorus.
I believe it has to do with the venue acoustics and the spreading out of the chorus. Close micing was no longer possible and a sound with much hall reverb was captured. Such an accidental twist on modern recording standards was a coup when recording St. John Passion in which the chorus has a larger role than St. Matthew Passion.
Among HIP conductors Gardiner was clearly inclined towards young vocal soloists. They might not be the best but many conductors or ensembles seem to be using the same pool of singers, so I definitely welcome a change. I’d never heard of, even by name, the soloists on this recording. But Nick Pritchard was a very promising Evangelist who might make it on the world stage. He sang, rather than just pronounced, the words of the Gospel, yet without the overzealousness of Padmore or Bostridge. Taking on Jesus was the young bass William Thomas, he wasn’t really sturdy enough but time is on his side. Let’s see if all the yet unknown soloists here will become that “pool” ten or twenty years from now.