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Fanfare Magazine: 43:5 (05-06/2020) 
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CPO 5552862  

Händel: Brockes-Passion, HWV 48 Product Image

Code-barres / Barcode : 761203528622

 

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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