This early German Baroque work is composed in what is known as the “sepolcro” tradition, which appears to be a cross between a Passion Play and an Oratorio. The characters are allegorical: Mercy, Justice, and Grace (who represent Christ), along with a Contrite Sinner, an Obstinate Sinner, and a Demon. The “dramatic tension”, and I use the words as lightly as humanly possible, comes both from the Demon’s attempts to seduce the stubborn sinner, who is still in the running for hell, and from the contrite sinner’s support of the three allegorical ladies who are Christ’s stand-ins. What we get is more than two hours of sparsely if beautifully accompanied recitative-aria-recitative-occasional duet or terzetto-recitative-aria.
I can’t imagine a better sung performance of this work and it’s still amazingly dull: The contrite sinner is gorgeously performed by countertenor Henning Voss; soprano Kumiko Koike’s Grace is lovely and pure; Johannes Chum exhibits an agile, handsome tenor voice as the obstinate sinner; Wolfgang Bankl, in the difficult role of the Demon (he must tempt without seeming smarmy or evil) is excellent; and Linda Perillo’s Mercy and Ann Monoyios’ Justice are lovely traits. The orchestral playing is superb–graceful, crisp, and clean, with a nice pair of bassoons–and the recording is ideal.
The flaws therefore must lie with the music itself–which is dreary as only allegorical, liturgical, early German Baroque music can be–and, moreso, the dead-in-the-water leadership of Martin Haselbock, who probably could have enlivened the proceedings but opted to buy into its piety rather than its “theatricality”, be that as it may. And so, an oddity, an historical footnote, mainly for historians and those sorrowful, devout folk who like deep, gloomy, thought-pieces. Sorry–sad, but true.
