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Jesus als Herrscher über sein Schicksal
Stephen Layton mit einer bravourösen Aufführung von Bachs Johannes-Passion in der Alten Oper Frankfurt. Mit Ian Bostridge als Evangelist.
Der Vokalklang zeichnet sich durch eine „schlanke Fülle“ – keine monumentale Wucht also – aus. 26 Sängerinnen und Sänger sind auf dem Chorpodium gruppiert: Der britische Dirigent Stephen Layton hält es mithin nicht mit...
Zeugen einer Gerichtsverhandlung
Gastspiel aus England: Johannes-Passion in der Alten Oper
Johann Sebastian Bachs Matthäus-Passion ist vor Ostern allerorten ein Muss. Seine Johannes-Passion BWV 245 hingegen, die in verschiedenen Fassungen vorliegt, doch kaum in einer authentischen Version von quasi "letzer Hand" zu edieren möglich scheint, steht noch heute ein wenig im Schatten des weitaus...
With his All-Night Vigil or Vespers setting (1915) Rachmaninov tapped so deeply and cogently into the tradition of Russian Orthodox music that it is difficult, at first hearing perhaps, to comprehend that this is the same composer responsible for the Paganini Variations, the piano concertos, symphonies, and the sizeable output of late Romantic piano music. But perhaps his rich interweaving of...
A first Messiah
Polyphony and the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment provided new listeners with a thoroughly modern Messiah
Charged with taking a teenager to their first Handel Messiah this holidays, the choice was bewildering: should we go for size and splendour, authentic austerity, lofty atmosphere, star soloists or sing-a-long immersion?
I plumped for Polyphony – radiant young voices...
“The best bleedin’ Messiah in the country” was Heddle Nash’s self-assessment, and the same phrase is right for this now-legendary annual performance by Polyphony and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Stephen Layton. It was the culmination of the 30th St John’s Smith Square Christmas Festival, and it was the best performance of Handel’s great work that we have ever heard.
Polyphony...
This performance was the last in the St John’s 13 day-long 30th Christmas Festival. As in the case of the previous evening’s Bach Mass in B minor, it was conducted by the Festival’s Artistic Director, Stephen Layton. In fact all the artists who took part in the Bach also took part in the Handel work, with the exception that the professional group Polyphony, numbering 32 singers, replaced the...