The recording of Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" that preserves a live
performance by the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under the baton
of Willem Mengelberg is an irreplaceable historic stylistic document,
linking us directly to performance traditions and instrumental
sonorities of the romantic era, which W.M. miraculously preserved
during his impressively enduring tenure.
Mengelberg's life-long familiarity with the score - it was evidently a
seasonal feature of Amsterdam music life from the 1890's - means that
one is hearing a truly practiced interpretive schema. Mengelberg was
legendary not only for his interpretive subjectivity, but also for the
technical polish he brought to his performances. The clarity of
instrumental and massed choral vocies as well as clearly weighed
balances are readily apparent, even in this vintage recording.
Also on display is Mengelberg's unique - here the word is properly
employed - subjective interpretive style. HIs tempo modifications,
sweet orchestral sonority and lush phrasing are just some of the
interpretive devices at his disposal. Despite the huge number of
subjective episodes and impulses apparent in his performance, the
overall impression conveyed is that of a single dramatic purpose and
utterance. There is no feeling of gestures 'tacked on' for effect, only
a hightened rhetorical sense of drama, illuminating Bach's musical
narrative.
For a very different but quite compelling approach, the Blanche
Moyse-directed recording of the score - with her Marlboro area troops
and a good selection of soloists - is an extremely personal performance
of the work, informed by a certain emotional subjectivity encompassed
by a larger objectivist-humanist stance. As is the case of the
Mengelberg, her long familiarity with the score leads to a feeling of
inevitability of interpretive choices, which make the musical/dramatic
experience a quite satisfying one.