Opéra Royal - Bach: PASSION SELON SAINT MATTHIEU

Cultural

The Pygmalion choir and orchestra perform Bach's music with fervour, creating an intense moment of power and purity.

The St Matthew Passion, the pinnacle of Bach's work, was probably premiered on Good Friday. The year 1727 at St Thomas's in Leipzig has haunted the history of music for nearly three centuries. Performed several times during Bach's lifetime, it spearheaded the rediscovery of Bach in the 19th century. Nearly a hundred years after its creation, Felix Mendelssohn performed a version of it in Berlin, restoring Bach to his rightful place at the forefront of German musical heritage, where he has remained ever since.

Based on the Gospel of St Matthew, which is much more developed than that of St John, the librettist Picander composed twenty-eight madrigal scenes. Among these and the Gospel sections, Bach introduced twelve harmonised chorales with hymns inserted at numbers 1 and 25 and the great chorale ending the first part.