Richter conducts Bach: St Matthew Passion

In this filmed performance from 1971 Karl Richter conducts Bach's St. Matthew Passion with two choruses, his Munich Bach-Orchestra and outstanding soloists including Peter Schreier (Evangelist), Ernst Gerold Schramm (Jesus), Siegmund Nimsgern (Judas). For the arresting stage setting, director Hugo Käch took the cross as his main motif, using a gigantic cross above the performers to suggest menace and oppression as well as protection, while Richter's style encapsulates the performance practice of the time, balancing an unerring seriousness of purpose with a search for a new rhythmic flexibility.

Soloists: 

Walter Berry (Bass), 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, Die Münchner Chorbuben

Conductor: 

Karl Richter