Credits:

Ryuichi Higuchi

Description:

Suntory Hall 30th Anniversary Special Concert Live "Matthew Passion" with a New Look! This is the second live recording of the "Matthew Passion" by the Meiji Gakuin Bach Academy conducted by Ryuichi Higuchi. The Bach Academy of Meiji Gakuin was founded in 2000, the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, by its artistic director, Ryuichi Higuchi, under the motto of "research and practice (performance)". The CD of the Japan premiere of the early drafts (1727/1729) in 2002 attracted much attention. The "Matthew Passion" in the later manuscript (1736) was performed again in 2008 and 2016, and this CD is the live recording (3CD set) of the special 30th anniversary performance at Suntory Hall on March 20, 2016. The quality of the soloists, including evangelical historian, tenor John Elwis, and bass Katsunori Kono as Jesus, and the recent qualitative improvement of the Meiji Gakuin Bach Academy Choir and Ensemble (using ancient instruments) are worthy of special mention. The Meiji Gakuin Bach Academy Choir and Ensemble (using ancient instruments) have improved in quality in recent years, and have broken new ground in the "Matthew Passion" while taking into account the results of their research into ancient music. Universal Music/IMS