Father Albert J. Hebert, S.M., "Raised From the Dead, True Stories of 400 Resurrection Miracles" (335pp.; TAN Books & Pub., 1986; Nihil Obstat, Imprimatur).
"Ti apiston krinetai par 'umin ei 'o Theos nekrous egeirei" --- Acts 26:8
Bach's St. Matthew Passion is one of the culminating achievements of Western Civilization. There have been many fine recordings of the Matthaeus-Passion, but the most memorable (in my opinion) is that made in 1961 by Otto Klemperer with such superlative soloists as Fischer-Dieskau, Schwarzkopf, Gedda, and Berry.
Most conductors set the opening chorus at too fast a tempo. Klemperer, however, proceeds at a pace leisurely enough to give this dramatic and emotionally charged opening movement a tremendous sense of presence.
Klemperer was an astute conductor who knew that the dynamic tempo of a piece had to be adjusted, within limits, to accomodate the acoustics and reverberations of the recording site. His initial recording of this monumental opening chorus (which involves three separate antiphonal choirs), in a large church in England, lasted a full 14 minutes. But because the recording session had begun in winter, the church proved to be too damp, cold, and uncomfortable a site to labour in. So the final recording was done at a smaller but warmer hall, and the tempo was "speeded up" to 11.47 minutes.