Richter conducts Bach: St John Passion
Concert

Richter conducts Bach: St John Passion

Münchener Bach-Orchester

Production Date: 07/09/1971
130 Min

Karl Richter and his Munich forces present a performance of Bach's St John Passion, his earlier – and arguably more directly emotional and dramatic – setting of the Passion story. Drawing inspiration and primarily setting texts from the Gospel according to St John, Bach created his first large scale masterpiece; he conducted the premiere himself in Leipzig on Good Friday 1724. Richter's performance – featuring some of the finest Bach singers of the time – was filmed Swedish director Arne Arnbom in the Stiftskirche Marienmünster in Dießen, Bavaria, on which construction began just four years before the work's premiere.

Soloists
Helen Donath (Soprano), Julia Hamari (Contralto), Horst R. Laubenthal (Tenor), Siegmund Nimsgern (Bass), Ernst Gerold Schramm (Bass), Peter Schreier (Tenor)
Ensembles
Münchener Bach-Chor, Münchener Bach-Orchester
Conductor
Karl Richter