The West German Radio Chorus, a powerful presence in this performance, were also involved in one of two recordings of Penderecki’s St Luke Passion made in 1967, a year after its completion. That Harmonia Mundi LP wasn’t released until 12 years later (1/79), probably because the solo singers and conductor were identical to those on the Philips LP (6/67). More recently, the composer himself conducted a well-received account, resonantly recorded in Katowice Cathedral (Argo, 3/91). Since then, Penderecki’s blend of concentrated melodrama and expansive lamentation has lost ground to the more restrained, intimate spirituality of Part’s Passio (St John Passion). But Penderecki’s earlier style still has its advocates, as certain works by James MacMillan prove, and this new recording makes a strong case for it.
While conductor Marc Soustrot can’t erase the disparity between the relatively brief Passion narrative and the drifting choral meditations, he maintains plenty of ongoing tension: as a result, the performance is about six minutes shorter than Penderecki’s own.
Not inappropriately, the sound has a raw edge with a touch of glare at climaxes. The booklet presentation is less than ideal, though, offering only a German translation alongside the Latin text. It also follows the Preface to the score of the work in failing to match the text Penderecki set: for example, the phrase ‘et haec dicans exspiravit’ in the narrator’s final statement was actually omitted by the composer. But it’s the performance which matters most, and this one is consistently excellent – a genuine team effort.'