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St John Passion at St John's Smith Square: 5 star review, Bachtrack
JS Bach’s St John Passion opens with a tremendous 14-bar instrumental prelude in which its driving semiquaver rhythm and clashes in oboes and flutes are as unsettling as the events on Golgotha soon to be narrated. If those clashes from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment did not bleat and bite as they can, it was perhaps because conductor Stephen Layton was hurtling through Bach’s stirri
Christmas Oratorio at the Barbican, London
"Directed by Stephen Layton, the [Britten] Sinfonia and the dozen singers of Polyphony warmed up the chilly Barbican stage with a reading of the Oratorio (Parts one, two, three and six) that brought a sense of ritual togetherness to the Brutalist auditorium. The choir, stage left, supplied all the solo roles, with singers stepping out and back for their numbers. The (excellent) woodwinds sat in fr
Bach: St Matthew Passion (Concert Review - Radio New Zealand, 2018)
The APO has already given us a concert opera this year with Verdi’s Aida but last night’s performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion seemed like another one at times with its drama, passions, and powerful music. The story is told from multiple perspectives with some soloists, the chorus, and the orchestra taking on different roles and characters.This is not an easy work in many ways with its often s
Bach: St Matthew Passion (Concert Review - Bachtrack, 2018)
One of the highlights of Auckland's musical life these last few years has been the semi-regular appearances of English conductor Stephen Layton to lead the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in Bach's great choral masterworks. Previous instalments have included revelatory performances of the B Minor Mass and St John Passion and, this year, these were followed by the St Matthew Passion, the second of
Bach: Mass in B minor (CD Review - Music Web International, 2018)
As I listened to this excellent new recording of the B minor Mass I found myself reflecting on the progress that we have witnessed in recent years. When I first started to listen seriously to the choral music of Bach, some 35 years ago at least, a commercial recording of the mighty B minor Mass by a student choir would have been an unlikely proposition. Furthermore, despite the excellent work that
Bach: Mass in B minor (CD Review - Classicstoday.com, 2018)
All’s well, everything precisely where it should be with this new Bach B minor Mass, albeit from a source not known for many forays into this territory. The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge is one of the world’s finest choirs, one that operates in an atmosphere and expectation of excellence, neither knowing nor inhabiting a world of the middling or mediocre either in performances or recordings.