| "This fascinating libretto is fully matched by a score of rare beauty, and contrasting orchestral colors that show Telemann for the most part at the peak of his powers. The ambivalent irregularity of the unison string figure, consistently reiterated, that accompanies Devout Soul’s opening aria is immediately arresting, as are Peter’s successive arias, the first highly agitated, fragmentary, full of telling silences, the second overflowing with tearful remorse, but also such loveliness as to tear at the heart. The whole of part 1 indeed makes a deep impression, virtually every number reaching a level of profundity that makes a fool of those who would still have it that Telemann’s music rarely, if ever extends beyond agreeable superficiality. Part 2 does not maintain the same overall high standard, but it opens with a magnificent chorus of lamentation, “Ach Golgatha,” a darkly dissonant number whose chromaticism and stabbing chords are colored by bassoons and mournful oboes. The grief of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is delicately supported by a pair of consolatory chalumeaus, to special and poignant effect, while that same emotion is evoked by the charming pastoral in which Jesus, at the point of death, recalls the love surrounding him at his birth in the crib... The lack of even introductory notes in translation will doubtless deter many outside German-speaking territories from exploring this exceptional example of Telemann’s Passion music. That is a great pity; both the work and performance, which is given first-rate sound, deserve the widest possible audience."--Brian Robins |
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