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Bach - St. Matthew Passion

PROGRAMME

St. Matthew Passion, the summit of Bach’s work was probably created on Good Friday.

 

Year 1727 in St Thomas in Leipzig has haunted the history of music for almost three centuries. Performed several times in Bach’s lifetime, it was the spearhead for the rediscovery of Bach in the 19th century. Almost a hundred years after its creation, Felix Mendelssohn played a version in Berlin, placing Bach again in the first ranks of German musical heritage, where he has remained ever since.

 

Based on Saint Matthew’s account, which is much more developed than St John’s, the librettist Picander composed 28 madrigal scenes. Among them and the gospel parts, Bach introduced twelve harmonized chorales with hymns inserted in numbers 1 and 25 and the grand chorale ending the first part.

 

The presence of a double choir is one of the main distinctive elements of this passion. This is what reinforces the dramatic power of the work, with action scenes with the main protagonists of the Passion and also the crowd, both witness and player of the drama. The result obtained by Bach cannot be compared to other German passions of the time, which are much more measured and conventional. We are here closer to a grand biblical oratorio, as composed by Handel at the same time in England, with alternating arias and chorales, both describing and commenting the events of the passion and the religious feelings it inspired: indignation, piety, grief. We are at the summit of baroque rhetoric; the urgency of the drama is more perceptible than ever.

 

The choir and the orchestra serve Bach’s music with fervor and will create an intense moment of strength and purity.

 

 

CASTING

Julian Pregardien, Evangelist (March 22nd, 24th, 25th, 27th, 28th, 29th and 31st, April 2nd and 3rd)

Robin Tritschler, Evangelist (April 5th, 6th and 7th)

Stéphane Degout, Jesus

 

Hana Blažíková, soprano 1

Perrine Devillers, soprano 2

Lucile RIchardot, alto 1

Tim Mead, alto 2

Robin Tritschler, tenor 1

Thomas Hobbs, tenor 2

Christian Immler, bass

 

Maîtrise de Radio France

Pygmalion, choir and orchestra

 

Raphaël Pichon, music direction

 

Bertrand Couderc, lights

 

 

DATES

  • 2021 March 22nd

Versailles - Chapelle Royale

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  • 2021 March 24th

Pamplona - Fundacion Baluarte

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  • 2021 March 25th

Barcelone - Palau de la musica

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  • 2021 March 27th

Francfort - Alte Oper

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  • 2021 March 28th

Dortmund - Konzerthaus

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  • 2021 March 29th

Hamburg - Elbphilharmonie

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  • 2021 March 31st

Bruxelles - Bozar

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  • 2021 April 2nd

Aix-en-Provence - Festival de Pâques

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  • April 3rd 2021

Paris - Philharmonie de Paris

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  • 2021 April 5th

Bordeaux - Opéra National de Bordeaux

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  • 2021 April 6th and 7th

Lille - Opéra de Lille

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