Gratuitous Good Friday – Magdalena Kožená Sings Bach

The Monteverdi program with MK that I posted the other day is quite recent. Here is some vintage Magdalena (Amazon says it was issued in 2004, but a reviewer comments that it was recorded in 1999). This aria from Bach's St. Matthew Passion is from one of Ms. Kožená's first commercial recordings. I find her performance—and that of the un-credited solo violinist—almost unbearably moving.

Erbarme dich, mein Gott, um meiner Zähren willen! Schaue hier, Herz und Auge weint vor dir bitterlich. Erbarme dich, mein Gott.

Have mercy, my God, for the sake of my tears! See here, before you heart and eyes weep bitterly. Have mercy, my God.