Bach: St John Passion (Concert Review - Odense Symphony Orchestra, 2010)

Stunning Easter experience

Philharmonic Choir in the leading role

Odense Symphony Orchestra / J.S. Bach: St John’s Passion

”Und neigte das Haupt und verschied”.

This is the text of the Gospel of St John in which Jesus gives up his spirit on the Cross.

Here the conductor Stephen Layton bent his head, and stood in more than one and a half minutes silence devotional on the podium. There was never more quiet in the filled church. This became the dramatic peak in Friday´s Concert in Skt Hans Church and symptomatic of all of the breathtaking performance –

A stroke of genius to hire Layton, one of England´s very best choir conductors, for this , they do so well, the British..

With a sense of overview, calmness and dignity, he led Odense Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic Choir and his home team of primarily young excellent British artists.

The evangelist is the primary facilitator/ mediator, here sung by tenor Andrew Kennedy with violently dramatic expression, radical fervor and technical perfection.

But no less important is the choir. Its role in the work is twofold: partly as an active part in the history as high priests, Jews, the people's voice,  and sometimes as facilitator of the wonderful choral passages, these state the overriding theme: Only through Jesus ´suffering will the glorification of man happen, only through the capture of Jesus, will man gain his freedom.

An annually welcome to passion music

It was one of the Philharmonic choir’s great evenings. There are particularly many choir passages in precisely this Bach-Passion, and despite some confusion with tempi in the first part - there were some muddy passages at times between orchestra and choir - one was repeatedly and at once enthralled; From violent tutti-passages in a furious pace and Fugues in turbo mode to faintly sung choir verses, almost with sordine on the voice - it's not all semi-professional choir, which can do this.

Layton’s idea to let the choir sing the second part of the double chorale a cappella made a very special impression, what an effect!

The 10 arias express a contemporary congregations meditative reflections on the events from capture
to the burial and they were sincerely and tenderly sung, but also dramatically lectured to us by the English artists
and accompanied by elegant obligati performed by soloists in the orchestra.
It is reported that the Easter music will now appear each year on the symphony orchestra
program.

It can only be welcomed. …

Mikael Krarup