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Bach's St Matthew Passion

by The Netherlands Bach Society
Classical Highlights
Tue 19 Mar ’24 19:00 uur


Johanna Soller, conductor
Thomas Hobbs, evangelist 
Isabel Schicketanz, soprano I | Myriam Arbouz, soprano II
Alex Potter, alto I | Marine Fribourg, alto II 
Valerio Contaldo, tenor I | Guy Cutting, tenor II 
Felix Schwandtke, bass I | Drew Santini, bass II

Tue 19 Mar ’24
19:00 uur

Good Friday, April 14, 1922. It is with conductor Johan Schoonderbeek that Bach's St. Matthew Passion is performed in Naarden. A memorable date because a new ensemble and a new tradition are born: the Nederlandse Bachvereniging and their annual performance of the St. Matthew Passion at Easter. Only half a century earlier, the St. Matthew Passion had sounded in the Netherlands for the first time.... But we have since caught up: Bach's greatest work is now heard every Easter in more than a hundred places around the country. With Naarden and the Nederlandse Bachvereniging at the forefront; it has grown into a large event over and over again, with members of the cabinet and other dignitaries eagerly making their appearance.

The most beloved musical work ever? It would certainly seem so. Between 2013 and 2018, the St. Matthew Passion was tking first place on NPO Radio 4's Heart & Soul Chart. How could it be otherwise, from the mighty Kommt ihr Töchter helft mir Klagen to the poignant final chorus Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder. With in between many other highlights like the great chorale O Mensch bewein dein Sünde gross and the passionate alto aria Erbarme Dich. So loved are the performances by the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, that other venues want a taste of it too. Like Muziekgebouw Eindhoven.

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