Johann Sebastian Bach performed at least two Lukas Passions during his time in Leipzig. The work still exists today in the manuscript housed in the Berlin State Library in Bach's own handwriting and completed by his son Carl Phillip Emanuel. This paternity is nonetheless contested. After seeing this manuscript, Mendelssohn wrote in 1838 : 'if that is by Sebastian, then I'll be hanged, and yet it is unmistakably his handwriting. But it is too clean; he copied it". Brahms also thought it was not by Bach. The argument now went back and forth but the German musicologist Wolfgang Schmieder was of another opinion and regarded the St. Luke Passion as a work of the Thomaskantor's youth and his support of its authenticity secured it a place as number 246 as late as 1950 in the BWV catalog. Today the general consensus is that this composition is not by Bach but by a contemporary of his, one who most likely lived and worked in Central Germany, and that Bach copied out and performed this work. In any case, this unpretentiously simple, in the best sense touching work deserves its firm place in the repertoire of early music, all the more so since Wolfgang Helbich is a persuasive advocate of the score and, above all, the great Bach considered worthy of repeated performance, thus making repeated criticism of its so-called compositional weakness unjustified. Evangelist Rufus Müller is excellent and the other soloists do justice to the music as well as the text. So highly recommended as a great work of art and also for its exceptional choral work. Good sound.
« Wolfgang Helbich and his Bremen forces pitch the dramatic climate just about right all the way through. Smoothly articulated, unmannered and technically accomplished, the chorales and turba scenes are especially well judged. The Evangelist, Rufus Muller, conveys the Gospel with soft-grained clarity and understated dignity and the other soloists do more than justice to the six arias. To imagine, by around 1745, the ageing and gradually more introspective Bach directing the unfledged Terzett, “Weh und Schmerz” is a strange thought. Indeed, for all the many qualities of the performance, especially the affectionate contribution of the Alsfeld Vocal Ensemble, this enterprising recording ever sharpens the distinction of Bach and his relatively functional role as Kantor with the parallel workings of his compositional mind. Whether this is Wolfgang Helbich’s tacit intention, Bach’s genius glows ever brighter. Recommended on that score alone.» (Gramophone, 1998 "Critic's Choice" award)