Bach's St Matthew Passion, Barbican Centre

Bach’s The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to the Evangelist Matthew is a work whose stature and dimensions are every bit as colossal as its title. One of the peaks of the entire classical repertoire, it burns with an unmatched religious intensity, encompassing exquisite arias, rousing chorales and a densely patterned orchestral instrumentation. Played here by world-renowned period specialists the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists and directed by John Eliot Gardiner (OAE), it promises to soar heavenwards, taking its audience along for the ride.
The Passion – one of the four settings that Johann Sebastian Bach composed, of which only two survive – was first performed on Good Friday 1727. Revised several times until 1746, it blends Biblical text from the Gospel of Matthew with contemporary poetry that delves into its character’s thoughts. From the opening Chorus, it is clear that Bach is drawing on an unprecedentedly vast canvas, creating orchestral textures hitherto unimagined. The piece demands two separate choirs and orchestras, each of whom has several soloists attached. The resulting interplay adds further complexity to the music, which is alternatively ebullient and plaintive. In the hands of Gardiner and his ensembles, this looks to be an Easter delight.