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.

Very few conductors have recorded as much Bach as Karl Richter and none can lay a stronger claim to a legacy based on championing the master. Richter's reverence for Bach is evinced by the simplicity, splendor, and grandeur with which he consistently imbued his performances exemplified here by these landmark recordings of the Brandenburg Concertos and Orchestral Suites. In Archiv's original-image bit-processing remastered transfers as well, the sound is better than ever. This is cornerstone Bach that should not be missed.

This imaginatively-curated, generously-filled Christmas package is sure to find favor during this and future holiday seasons. Why? Because it packs in every conceivable carol, tune, choral work or song in timeless performances from the greatest artists in the world: singers of immense communicative gifts including Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming and Luciano Pavarotti to name but four. It truly offers something of every Christmas mind, spirit, and looks fantastic.

As one of the most legendary champions of Bach Karl Richter's many (and in some instances multiple) recordings of the composers Cantata's arguably is his greatest achievement. Richter enlisted many of the finest vocalists in their prime during the 1950's through the early 70's for these recordings elevating the neglected form at the time to the level of Grand Opera. His conducting, especially for his day as well remains remarkably animated and fluent yet always respectful of Bach's underlying powerful architectural components. These recordings set the standard and for many today remain the benchmark performances by which all new ones continue to be judged.

As a Bach interpreter, Richter was almost unrivalled worldwide for many years and his Bach interpretations set standards. Karl Richter and his choir became the formative interpreters of the internationally renowned Bach Festival in Ansbach, a meeting place for the musical elite from all over the world. For almost two decades, the Munich Bach Choir and Orchestra has had the musical world from New York to Leningrad, from Tokyo to Paris at its feet, and many of its highly decorated recordings are among the best-selling recordings.

"Astounding" doesn't even come close to describing these '60s recordings of Bach's organ works played by Karl Richter on the Jaegerborg-Kirche organ in Copenhagen. Richter's technique is more than astounding; it is stunning in its virtuosity. While there are a handful of organists that equal Richter, there are none who surpass him. From his incredibly independent hands to his unbelievably dexterous pedals, Richter is a marvel.

From the euphoric first to the solemn sixth, the Brandenburg Concertos feature some of Bach's fenrst and most popular orchestral music, interpreted here by legendary Bach specialist Karl Richter and his Münchener Bach-Orchester - for the first time on DVD.

The opening with the opening choir "Kommt, ihr Töchter" immediately sets the tone; not a quick-played waltz, but imposing and wide-set, like the start of a great human drama. Richter exceeds 11 minutes with this tempo. Only the version by Otto Klemperer is even slower. But unlike Klemperer, here in the rest of the MP we are not dealing with a somewhat stately approach, but with a sharply profiled and dramatic one!

C.P.E. Bach eclipsed his legendary father s fame to become the mid-18th century s leading German composer. This wide-ranging collection of symphonies, concertos and vocal works by the great forerunner of Haydn and Mozart is performed by authoritative interpreters including Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert. The evident delight of the musicians in this music makes for rewarding listening … Impressive and fascinating.

Wie ein Monolith ragt der Dirigent, Organist und Cembalist Karl Richter in der Geschichte der evangelischen Kirchenmusik und der Bach-Interpretation der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts auf. Als junger Mann beschloss Karl Richter, inspiriert von der mitteldeutschen Kantorentradition seiner Heimat, dem frühen Eindruck des Klangs der sächsischen Orgeln und der Werke Johann Sebastian Bachs, sein Leben in den Dienst an der Musica sacra zu stellen. In seinem kurzen Leben, das nur 54 Jahre währte, setzte er diesen Vorsatz in den Kirchendiensten an der Thomas-kirche zu Leipzig, an der Markuskirche zu München, in Konzerten, Schallplattenaufnahmen für Teldec und Deutsche Grammophon und als Lehrer an der Münchner Hochschule für Musik, in einer Lebensleistung von fast unüber-schaubarem Ausmaß ins Werk. Es gelang ihm dabei, internationale Maßstäbe zu setzen.

The evolving musical climate of the 1950s occasioned a profound shift of culture and attitude in the performance of Bach’s great choral works. By the close of the decade, it was one of Bach’s own successors in the post of Kantor at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche, Karl Richter (who’d become organist there at age 23 in 1947), who’d become torch-bearer for a new generation of Bach interpreters. Richter’s recordings with the Munich Bach Choir and Orchestra (ensembles he founded in 1951 and with which his name has become synonymous) heeded an unbroken Leipzig tradition that could be traced back to the time of Bach himself.

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.

It therefore seems appropriate to highlight recommend this present performance of Karl Richter's, which stands firmly in the Romantic Messiah tradition preserved through the last century. Unlike most modern recordings, this Messiah utilizes a full orchestra, large chorus, and operatic soloists who do no ornamentation.
Richter's conducting confirms his status as the then-reigning Bach expert–squarely Germanic, displaying broad, stately tempi and a good sense of baroque rhythm. The opening overture is vested with weight and great seriousness, but doesn't drag–you may miss the double-dotting often read into the score if that's what you're used to, but the more traditional approach succeeds very well on its own terms. In particular the "Pastoral Symphony" is very pretty and lovingly phrased. The sound he draws from the orchestra is bit relaxed and mellow (the strings sound almost lazy in places), but very deep and appropriate to his stately conception.

Karl Richter's performance dates from 1965, since when it has seldom been out of the catalogue. It is in an entirely different class… Richter's Munich Bach Choir were at a peak at this time and the results are often quite exciting. Under Richter's direction the ''Ehre sei dir, Gott'' chorus…is appropriately lustig with wonderfully light-hearted singing and orchestral playing… [T]he arias with Gundula Janowitz and Fritz Wunderlich…[are] of a calibre which will always ensure considerable enjoyment…

– Nicholas Anderson

Richter brings a solid, disciplined richness to Handel. The big choruses are supported by the organ, and the harpsichord is exuberantly present just about everywhere. The Munich Bach Choir sometimes sings with a German accent but doesn't muff an eighth note. The soloists are all native English speakers, and paramount among them is Alexander Young, the best Handel tenor of his time. He combines agility with persuasive heroic strength, and he is a superb actor. His unparalleled flamboyance of declamation brings every word to life (listen to the confrontation with Dalila); you remember both the character and the music. Arroyo sounds both voluptuous and repentant as Dalila, Procter is a composed, stately Micah with an absolutely steady contralto, and Flagello thunders imposingly as Harapha. Stewart's handsome baritone limns a suave, solicitous Manoa.