Sacred opera or sung sermon? Bach’s Matthäus-Passion balances between these two extremes, its singers switching instantaneously between the retelling of Jesus’ suffering and death, and what that means to each one of us in the here and now. The congregation of listeners are embraced through the universalising power of familiar hymn tunes and texts.
Undertaking this totemic work for the first time as part of its 15th anniversary, Solomon’s Knot does away with both vocal scores and conductor to bring Bach’s masterpiece up close and personal in an especially intimate and visceral performance.
Working again with director John La Bouchardière (St John Passion, Leipzig 2019) to explore this metaphysical interface, the group pushes the limits of how contemporary audiences interact with a work written to strike into the hearts of listening Saxons 300 years ago.
