My beloved Geejay gave me some DVDs for Christmas. I felt compelled to watch the one first that has a performance of the “St John Passion” by J.S. Bach.

Most scholars agree that Bach’s “St Mathew Passion” is a greater masterpiece than his “St John Passion”, but both contain stunningly beautiful music. After its premiere, Bach spent ten years revising and perfecting his “St Mathew Passion” and had gotten underway doing the same thing to his “St John Passion” before death intervened.

This DVD contains a performance of Bach’s “St John Passion” with the Munichener Bach Orchestra and Munichener Bach Choir, conducted by Karl Richter. I do not recognize any of the names of the soloists other than the tenor Peter Schrier, who sings the role of the evangelist.

When it comes to baroque music I have long preferred period instrument recordings, especially those of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, and especially John Eliot Gardiner. The period instrument movement began in the 1970s and gained momentum in the 80s. It is not just the use of instruments of the baroque that distinguishes these performances. It is a whole new way of interpreting the scores of the baroque masters, stripping away (at least in theory) layer after layer of nineteenth and twentieth century performance practices that suddenly seemed so anachronistic when applied to Bach or Handel.

Karl Richter is of the old school of Bach conductors and probably the best example of such. His recordings of Bach’s cantatas and other choral music are legendary. Of all of the old-school conductors of Bach, I think he was the best. I have a CD of an old Karl Richter recording of three Bach cantatas, but this DVD has given me a new appreciation for him.

I no longer look at the old-school verses new-school performances of baroque music as a right-verses-wrong situation. They are both legitimate ways of expressing the extraordinary beauty of the great baroque masters. Close your eyes and listen to an old Karl Richter performance of Bach. Is it not sublimely beautiful?