Superlative art, piety, insight, and praise
Christopher Culver | 06/13/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sofia Gubaidulina's JOHANNES-PASSION is the composer's masterpiece, a moving choral and orchestral work, and one of the greatest works of Christian piety of our time.
In 2000 Gubaidulina was one of four composers from different parts of the world brought together by the International Bachakademie Stuttgart to each write a Passion. (The others were Tan Dun, Wolfgang Rihm, and Osvaldo Golijov). Gubaidulina rooted hers in the liturgical tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, and because that tradition eschews use of instruments, her work is often mainly choral, with brief orchestral pomp such as in the enchanting "Liturgie in himmel", though percussion such as bells and drums is noticible more often. In the beginning of the second disc the two choruses battle against each together like prosecution and defense about the divinity of Jesus, mixing beautifully sung and spoken word.
JOHANNES-PASSION begins with the first couple of verses from St John's gospel, the explanation of the eternity of the Word, and for much of the first disc it explores the foot-washing and commandments to faith and love, as well as some glorious theological matters before reaching the beginnings of Christ's suffering. What makes Gubaidulina's Passion so fascinating and original from a textual point of view is her use of a *second* book, the Revelation to St John the Divine. While the Gospel according to St John speaks of what has passed, the Revelation tells of what is to come. In this way Gubaidulina covers the whole of Christian experience, from the founding of the Church to the end of time.
This recording is a live one of the work's premiere, and there are clearly portions where the work could have been heard better. In some of the quiet moments the shifting in chairs, etc. can be heard. However, the performances given are nearly flawless. Gergiev is a calm and composed conductor of Gubaidulina's work (a performance of her "Viola Concerto" by this orchestra with him conducting is also available on DG). The ensembles of the Mariinsky Theatre show a deep understanding of the work, and the choir is brilliantly motivated. Especially praiseworthy is bass Genady Bezzubenkov, who carries the foundation of the work and who pulled it off unfailingly.
The booklet is rather unsatisfying because it does not give the text of the Passion in the original Russian, providing only German, English, French, and Spanish translations instead. The text in Russian must be obtained from the label's website. The booklet is also somewhat unsatisfactorily edited. However, there is an insightful essay by the composer on how her work came to be, as well as an interesting chronology of her career.
This unfortunately might be one of the more difficult to find of Gubaidulina's works, but it is certainly worth getting for fans of the composer, for it is her most grandiose work to date. But even if you have never heard Gubaidulina's work before, the JOHANNES-PASSION is a great piece of liturgical music, essential for the passionate believer and certainly interesting for others."
The concept is stronger than the music
R. Hutchinson | a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds | 05/31/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I certainly hoped that this major work would prove to be Sofia Gubaidulina's masterpiece, but I was apprehensive, particularly since it didn't seem to have attracted much attention since its 2001 release. This is a live recording of the premiere performance on September 1, 2000 in Stuttgart, and I finally heard it this year, just after Easter. I have to say in all honesty that it just doesn't have enough music in it. As a work of devotion, it may be powerful, but in musical terms it falls well short of Gubaidulina's best works, STIMMEN ... VERSTUMMEN for orchestra, for instance (see my review), THE CANTICLE OF THE SUN (see my review of the original recording with Rostropovich on cello), or OFFERTORIUM, featuring Gidon Kremer (see my review).
There is always religious symbolism in Gubaidulina's works, and what she has achieved with this JOHANNES PASSION is amazing in that regard. Not content to merely tell the tale of the Passion from the Gospel of St. John, she interweaves it with the Apocalypse of the Last Judgement from the Book of Revelation (traditionally attributed to the same St. John, though that is not supported by recent scholarship). The booklet includes Gubaidulina's philosophical/theological explanation for this juxtoposition. Here is Gubaidulina:
"My piece, which I now place before the court of the audience, is an attempt at revealing the Word of God, which has come to us, and is living within us, such that His flesh (the temporal, event-laden *horizontal*, i.e., the Passion) and His spirit (the timeless, mental *vertical*, i.e., the Last Judgement) are reunited, refer back to one another and balance each other out."
What this means musically is that the somber story of the Passion, mainly narrated by the bass singer Genady Bezzubenko, is periodically interrupted by stunning choral passages representing the timeless spirit of God and the final victory of good over evil. But the large-scale forces of chorus and orchestra are used only sporadically, and the Orthodox-style chanting narrative, with sparse accompaniment, does not sustain my interest over the 90 minutes of the work.
For more from one of the best composers of our time, see my list SOFIA GUBAIDULINA'S SACRED SOUNDWORLD. I strongly recommend the works mentioned above to anyone interested in Gubaidulina's music."
GUBAIDULINA'S GOSPEL
NotATameLion | Michigan | 12/05/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"As a Christ-follower, it is always a great joy to find a piece of contemporary art that springs from within the Church and is not just an academic comment on the "mythology" of the Christian revelation. Sofia Gubaidulina's Johannes Passion is just that--a living breathing piece of Worship, not an artistic exercise. In order to keep perspective on it, my review will be two-fold: first, as a Theological/Worship piece, and secondly, as a work of art (though the two cannot really be separated).
As a piece of Christian worship, and as a Passion play in particular, this work is quite interesting. Gubaidulina does not limit herself to John's Gospel. She gives us the span of John's writing--from the Gospel to The Revelation. We are shown the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us in all his human frailty. We are shown (in staggering terms) the glory of the Risen One: the Lamb that was slain. I find this the most humanly engaging of the four 2000 Passions (the others being by Golijov-a show piece of the universality of Christ, Rihm-a powerful correlation between the sufferings of the world-in the 20th century in particular-and those of the Christ, and by Tan Dun-a masterful work in its own right that plumbed the depth of the Baptism's meaning in the Passion story). This Passion is a harrowing tale; especially the Last Judgement. At the same time it points to the weight of glory and the joy set before those who find their lives by losing it to the way of Christ.
The music of this story is a perfect match for its subject. This is music that blazes with the fire, intensity, glory and hope of its themes. It is emotionally taxing and yet somehow revitalizing to listen to this work in its entirety. I have only done so in one sitting a handful of times. Bernstein once made a statement along the lines that Mahler captures the whole world in his symphonies. Here Gubaidulina one-ups the master. She captures the whole Creation: the Cosmos from beginning to end. In it, in Him--all things hold together.
I give this work my full recommendation."
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1