St John Passion
Program
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johannes-Passion BWV 245
1724
Cast
Shira Patchornik
soprano
Sara Mingardo
mezzo-soprano
Andrew Staples
tenor
Mirko Ludwig
tenor
Christian Wagner
bass
La Cetra Vocal Ensemble
Andrea Marcon
conductor
Dates
The tragedy starts with the first note. Above a pulsating bass and strings anxiously pushing forward, oboes and flutes ascend in painful dissonance. This music resembles the agony of a tortured soul. When the choir enters at the climax of this monumental buildup, it sounds like a scream of pain and release at the same time. Johann Sebastian Bach’s St John Passion: a stroke of genius which still brings us to the edge of our seats, touching us directly with its bitter drama. The passion story is about the suffering and death of Jesus, but also about human life with all its joys and sorrows, hopes and disappointments, full of empathy and emotional coldness, loyalty and treason. »This music speaks of things which previously, no one had dared, managed or even tried to express in notes.« Thus the composer Hans Werner Henze on the St John Passion, an analysis that is certainly accurate. Our performance with the outstanding vocal ensemble La Cetra under the baton of Andrea Marcon replaces monumentality with approachability, portraying humans in all their weakness and vulnerability.
