Vivaldi wrote Juditha Triumphans for the musically talented women of the Ospedale della Pieta, the Venetian orphanage with which he was associated on and off throughout most of his working life. The librettist, Giacomo Cassetti, described the work as a ''sacred military oratorio performed in times of war by the chorus of virgin singers, to be sung in the church of the Pieta''. The war was that into which Venice had entered against the Ottoman Empire and to which reference is made both in the body of the Latin text and in a ''Carmen Allegoricum'' which accompanied the text of the work's first performance.

Legendary Bach interpreter Karl Richter leads his Münchener Bach-Orchester and choir in a double-DVD version of J. S. Bach's grandest sacred work, a riveting chronicle of the Last Supper and Christ's final hours, with the Gospel text sung by Peter Schreier as the Evangelist.

Petr Weigl's beautiful film evokes superbly this most atmospheric of opera, while Sir Georg Solti captures both the passion and subtlety of Tchaikowsky's magnificent score. The golden-voiced Teresa Kubiak sing the innocent Tatyana, Stuart Burrows is the ill-fated Lensky, and Bernd Weikl is Eugene Onegin, whose arrival is destined to change everybody's lives.

Münchinger uses WF Bach's alterations to Einfeste Burg (the addition of trumpets and kettledrums to the two largest movements), which - with the fresh, even raw, singing from soloists and chorus alike — makes this a dramatic almost triumphalist account; Wochet aufis similarly spacious and joyful. The sound is excellent; die chorus particularly vivid.

Winschermann's approach to the cantatas is conservative; his tempos are usually well chosen, though sometimes a little on the slow side, and his phrasing inclines towards that smooth legato so much favoured by Helmuth Rilling… Cantatas Nos. 147 and 74…were issued in 1972 and I think, on balance, they are the two which best illustrate the strong points of Winschermann's approach. In Cantata No. 74, especially, there is some fine obbligato playing from the violinist, Saschko Gawriloff, from Don Smithers (trumpet), and from Winschermann himself (oboe da caccia). The soprano, Ileana Cotrubas, has a vocal colour which suits the music very well…

The set has various virtues in its favor. Richter conducts an orchestra of modern instruments somewhat stolidly, but always with lyrical polish and sumptuous tone, and one can enjoy its lush richness, however anachronistic it may be. Nor are his tempos stereotypically sluggish; many of the sprightlier moments bounce along energetically. The soprano role of Cleopatra is sung by a young Tatiana Troyanos, who later became a celebrated mezzo-soprano (and eventually undertook the title role in stage productions, making her perhaps the first singer in history to undertake the roles of both Cleopatra and Caesar). It’s interesting to hear her in her earlier soprano incarnation. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau makes a valiant baritone effort at Caesar’s alto arias and, while he avoids the woolly grumbling some bass-baritones make of the part, seems less than emotionally committed. His second aria, “L’empio diro, tu sei,” for example, sounds polite and cautious rather than raging and indignant.

In 1718 Vivaldi entered the employment of Prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt who had been appointed governor of Mantua, then part of the Austrian Empire. His responsibilities seem to have been varied but probably the most important of them was to provide operas for his employer’s court. One of these was Tito Manlio, which was produced for the Mantuan Carnival season in 1719; and, if we are to believe a note by Vivaldi himself at the head of the score, written in the space of five days.

As one of the 20th century's most acclaimed Bach interpreters, Karl Richter devotes his expertise to this monumental epic of Christ's final hours, tapping the power of Bach's rich choral writing for a rendering of startling immediacy - for the first time on DVD.

Among traditional modern-instrument versions of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Wolfgang Gönnenwein’s 1968 recording has a lot to offer. Not least is the excellent choral singing from top to bottom. The texts are always clear, and the pacing for the chorales is governed by the story’s dramatic unfolding. You can’t help but be hooked by Evangelist Theo Altmeyer’s warm tone and vivid portrayal, complemented by Franz Crass’ sonorous, touching Jesus. What a joy it is to hear Teresa Zylis-Gara, Julia Hamari, and Hermann Prey at the peak of their respective powers. Tenor Nicolai Gedda is heard to better advantage with Gönnenwein than in Otto Klemperer’s recording, where he struggled with that conductor’s craggy tempos. The orchestra plays beautifully, and the engineering does full justice to Bach’s antiphonal interplay. All the recitatives are accompanied by rather dutiful chordal backing from the organ and cello (Bach adds a “halo” of strings, of course, whenever Jesus opens his mouth). A harpsichordist with a bent for improvisation would have spruced up the texture. Lovers of great Bach singing, however, will treasure this release.

(Jed Distler)

Helmuth Rilling is an excellent conductor and interpreter of Bach's sacred music. Recorded from 1969 to 1985, over a longer period of time than most other sets, there is a lot of change throughout the series. Rilling's recordings are more dense and lush than others, and his tempi are often slower than HIP recordings - no "original instruments" for Rilling. But he creates such a detailed sound-world that any fan of these works should want to hear Rilling's versions to compare with others. This said, Rilling often uses a technique that I find a bit disturbing. He'll have one instrument or group of instruments sequestered to one track, and others on the other track, giving a sound similar to that of early Beatles' stereo mixes, where vocals were on one track and instruments on the other.