Recorded live at the Philharmonie Berlin on 11th April 2010

It is no surprise that Sir Simon would one day tackle this most comprehensive of Bach’s compositions in view of his much applauded interpretation of the St. John Passion in 2006. The Berliner Morgenpost wrote at the time: “A performance of this musical calibre renders superfluous all questions about authenticity and historical performance practice. At the Philharmonie Sir Simon Rattle and his orchestra performed the St. John Passion [...] with highly concentrated and flawless beauty devoid of any distorting indulgence.”

German daily Die Welt hailed this performance of the St. Matthew Passion as “Simon Rattle’s Easter miracle,” and The Guardian in the UK wrote: “I challenge you not to be an emotional wreck by the end of it: the singers, especially Mark Padmore as the Evangelist, give the performance of their lives; Sellars sensitively connects the Passion story with the performances and the audience, without distorting Bach’s drama; and Rattle and his players are collectively raised to spooky, spiritual levels of inspiration.”

Bonus feature includes a conversation between Peter Sellars and Simon Halsey, conductor of the Rundfunkchor Berlin

DVDs
Disc 1: Bach, J S: St Matthew Passion, BWV244 - Part 1 + Bonus video
Disc 2: Bach, J S: St Matthew Passion, BWV244 - Part 2
[Video: NTSC 16:9 / Audio: PCM Stereo, DTS 5.1]

Blu-ray Disc
Bach, J S: St Matthew Passion, BWV244 - Parts 1/2 + Bonus video
[Video: 1080i Full HD 16:9 / Audio: 2.0 PCM, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1]

Running Time
Concert: 195 mins
Bonus: 51 mins

Digital Concert Hall
7- Day Ticket for the Berliner Philharmoniker’s video streaming service

Subtitles
English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean

“The long rehearsal period, the expertise of everyone involved and the authority of the solo singers: all this quickly becomes evident...this is a defiantly modern performance, one that exults in disturbance and the irony that arises from a deeply intimate staging within the round of the Berlin Philharmonie: appropriate in terms of architectural politics but jarringly opulent and public.” Gramophone

“Some of Sellars's gestures...are searing, and the rapt attention of the audience leaps out of the screen...Padmore is a great Evangelist and this must be his greatest performance of the role...while the symbiosis entwining vocal and instrumental soloists leavens Simon Rattle's compelling musical direction. Ultimately, a St Matthew Passion even greater than the sum of its parts - and they were already pretty awesome to begin with!”
BBC Music Magazine * * * * *