So, I was looking for a recording of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and I settled for this one. I couldn’t find the one that I already knew, so I thought how bad can it be? Before listening to it again I thought I could not complain. The record is in a good state, so it should be okay, right?
Wrong. It feels like Jochum is dragging the Concertgebouw through the material. He’s dragging them, and they don’t want to. It has all the trappings of the romantic era glued to a baroque piece. I suppose this kind of performance caused the urgency of the historically informed performance.
The weirdest thing though is, I’m missing a record. I don’t remember that happening. The sleeve is still there, with my markings on it. But the record is gone. Has it perhaps been eaten by the also dangerously damaged protective insert? Nothing else has been eaten, also not half.
It did mean I got less to listen to for this record. If you don’t understand the ordeal I went through in listening to it, listen to the samples and compare to more modern recordings.