Helmuth Rilling - Wolfgang Rihm: Deus Passus (2000)

Wolfgang Rihm, one of Germany's leading composers, here plants himself in Bach's footsteps with a version of the St. Luke Passion. Rihm emphasizes spirituality in this calm unfolding of the drama. Five vocal soloists take the parts traditionally assigned to the Evangelist and Jesus; their lines are often broken into phrases taken by each singer. While alluding to his eminent predecessor, Rihm's music is thoroughly contemporary, though nowhere approaching iconoclastic avant-garde. He intersperses the Gospel text with liturgical hymns, a passage from Isaiah and a Stabat Mater, and closes the work with a setting of Paul Celan's poem Tenebrae.
Overall, the work impresses with its seriousness, its refusal to sensationalize or strive for effect, and its largely successful effort to adapt a traditional form to our times. This recording was made at the concert premiere, and Helmut Rilling, who commissioned the work, leads an intense performance that sustains interest throughout its hour and a half. Orchestra and chorus are fine, the soloists outstanding. -- Dan Davis