Pierre Thibaud
In 1966, Peter Schreier with whom Karl Richter, ever since the Kreuzschule days, shared a friendly relationship, sang the part of the Evangelist in Bach’s Matthew-Passion for the very first time on March 3, 1966 in the Congress Hall of the German Museum and two days later in the Hall of the Music Society in Vienna. It was here too that the sensational debut of the Hungarian Contralto, Julia Hamari, took place.
Julia Hamari
“I stood up for the “Erbarme dich” aria, and I think, I sang well. That was the very first Matthews-Passion of my life. Of course nobody wanted to believe me. Such a beginning was normally not possible. The aria came to an end, and I looked at him and he looked at me there was this crazy pause, this awful pause: everything stood still nobody stirred; and then the choir started very slowly to sing the choral. Then he very quickly did the subsequent Recitative, looking angrily at me all the time, as if it was my fault that he was so surprised.”
Julia Hamari
The Summer of 1967 was the start of the musical collaboration between Karl Richter and the celebrated Mozart singer Edda Moser.
Edda Moser
“I had received an engagement, through the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, that Gluck’s Orpheo was to be recorded with Fischer-Dieskau and Janowitz and I was to sing the part of Amore. Needless to say I had prepared myself prodigiously. Just one day after my Father’s death I had to appear there in Munich and sing. Richter knew, that my father had died, it had been in all the Newspapers, and he expressed his sympathy. I said to him: please don be angry with me but I can’t listen to the correction recordings. I must ask you to do that for me, I am much too deeply moved. It was in fact very hard work, singing the Amor.”
Edda Moser
1967 a very important new engagement was arranged: the Hornist Hermann Baumann joined the Bach Orchestra.
Hermann Baumann
“The fact that I happened to meet Karl Richter: was thanks to Maurice André. Maurice André had said to Richter: “Everything in your ensemble fits together very well, the choir, the Orchestra, the Bach-Choir is fantastic, but not the Horn”, and on the strength of that I was engaged and took part in the first tour of Italy and Switzerland. It was on this trip that I had my debut. At the first Rehearsal he of course wanted to hear me. I got up and let loose as soloist of course. At the end there was a short silence, I said: “Do you want me to do something else?” No, no he said, and laughed so much, that the whole Orchestra joined in and then the Bach Choir as well. They had never heard anything quite like it before.”
Hermann Baumann
In 1968 a new name appeared on the Concert Programs of the Munich Bach-Choir, Horst Laubenthal.
Horst Laubenthal
“I can still remember the first audition. I had an appointment at the Music Academy. Most of the pieces I had never sung before, only the Matthews-Passion, but not the St. John-Passion. We did two or three recitals from the Matthews-Passion, including the grand part 'Und ging hinaus und weinete bitterlich'. And then he asked me: “Do you have time at such and such a date?”, and that is how with just one small audition I was given parts in several concerts, and was very happy to be able to perform with Karl Richter at such an early stage. Although I had observed him closely for many years, in order to adopt his style.”
Horst Laubenthal