Espectáculo finalizado

Voice

  • Date: 2 April, 11 a.m.
  • Hall: Main Auditorium

A soul-stirring and operatic compassion

The passion and death of Christ narrated musically as no one else has ever repeated. Apotheosis of Johann Sebastian Bach along with the Mass in B minor, the St Mathew Passion BWV 244 immerses us in a profoundly spiritual and poetic experience.

In spite of some researchers who have placed the premiere of the work in 1727, after its first performance on April 15, 1729, Good Friday, in St. Thomas Church, Leipzig -without the means which the Cantor required-, the work was rejected because its alternating of recitatives and arias and innovative musical language sounded too “operatic” for the severe ears of those reactionary times.

In collaboration with the Ancient Music Festival of Sevilla (Festival de Música Antigua de Sevilla) and with the formidable presence of the Baroque Orchestra of Freiburg and the Belgian vocal ensemble Vox Luminis, directed by Lionel Meunier, one of the most talented Europeans in sacra and Baroque vocal music, the Teatro de la Maestranza -following on from the great success of the Mass in B minor in 2022 with Ton Koopman and his Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra– celebrates its collaboration with this important Spanish music Festival and another one of Bach’s masterpieces, perhaps the most forthright.

Freiburger Barockorchester

Vox Luminis 

Escolanía de la Real Basílica de Ntra. Sra. de los Desamparados de Valencia. Director, Luis Garrido

  • Director: Lionel Meunier
  • Evangelist: Raphael Höhn
  • Soprano: Zsuzsi Tóth, Gwendoline Blondeel
  • Alto: Alexander Chance, William Shelton
  • Tenor: Florian Sievers, Raffaele Giordani
  • Bass: Sebastian Myrus, Felix Schwandtke

About Freiburger Barockorchester

This German chamber orchestra was founded in 1987 by former students of the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, most of whom were violin students of Rainer Kussmaul. Has performed in the principal international concert halls and its repertory centers on the Baroque and Classical, while not leaving out Romanticism. Such musical diversity has been documented by award winning recordings.

About Vox Luminis

Founded in 2004 by Lionel Meunier, in recent years it has become one of the most versatile and admired ensembles in European Ancient Music repertoire. Internationally acclaimed for a unique sound, distinguishing itself for its cohesion, the personality of each section, and the homogeneity of voices. The group performs 60 concerts each year on stages all over the world.

The press says

Pasiones

Cerraba la 'Pasión según San Mateo' de Bach la 40 edición del FeMÀS, una cifra redonda que difícilmente hubiésemos podido soñar cuando empezó.

Una Pasión dominada por la aflicción

El impresionante oratorio de Bach contó para la ocasión con unos intérpretes excepcionales y una retórica de marcado acento religioso y afligido

Las dos pasiones de Sevilla

...el ritmo natural de la palabra y la retórica musical para subrayarla serían el motor de la interpretación.