Tune in at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 29 to hear a performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion, as part of our special ongoing Holy Week programming.
In early 18th century Leipzig, the musical event of the season was expected on Good Friday in St. Thomas' Church, where Johann Sebastian Bach ran the musical show. Also traditional since the Middle Ages was a community gathering to hear a retelling of the Passion story, from the Last Supper through the Betrayal; and the vigil on the Mount of Olives to the Crucifixion. So, on Good Friday 1727, The St. Matthew Passion, putting music to the story, was heard for the very first time.
In Bach's day, it played like just an opera. In 1993, British director Jonathan Miller actually presented it as an opera in London. It's full of glorious choral sounds, heart rending solos and familiar chorales.
Join Lynne Warfel and Bill Morelock for a performance of Bach's masterwork featuring The Choir of King's College, Cambridge and a cast of great British singers including Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance, David Thomas and Rogers Covey-Crump.
Performers
Rogers Covey-Crump, tenor (Evangelist)
Michael George, bass (Jesus)
Emma Kirkby, soprano
Michael Chance, alto
Martyn Hill, tenor
David Thomas, bass
The Brandenburg Consort, Roy Goodman, leader
Choir of King's College, Cambridge
Choir of Jesus College, Cambridge (soprano in ripieno)
Stephen Cleobury, conductor
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