Musikalische Betrachtung des Leiden Jesu

By Isabel Schubert, 18 April 2017

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Reviewed at Hauptkirche St Jacobi, Hamburg on 14 April 2017

Bach, St Matthew Passion, BWV244

Kantorei St. Jacobi

Orchester St. Jacobi

Gerhard Löffler, Conductor

Simon Bode, Tenor

Matthias Weichert, Baritone

Timothy Sharp, Bass

Tanya Aspelmeier, Soprano

Sharon Carty, Mezzo-soprano

The St Matthew Passion in Dresden

Max Woods, 28th March

J.S. Bach didn’t write an opera, but if he had, it’d probably be the best opera in the world. Fortunately for us, he wrote the next best thing, his Mattäus-Passion, a work of such dramatic power, that even in the concert or church settings in which it is usually performed, its highly emotional narrative thread is still captivating.

***11

Leipzig Gewandhaus & St Thomas Choir: St Matthew Passion

Rohan Shotton, 8th March

Part of the St Thomas Choir Leipzig’s 800th anniversary celebrations, this Manchester concert was a deeply moving evening in which superb musicianship all round seemed almost to bring Bach himself, a Thomaskantor (choir director) in his day, to the Bridgewater Hall.The Passions of J.S. Bach are well described in Paul Kilbey’s recent article. The St.

****1

Winter in May: Simon Bode and Igor Levit at the Musikverein

Chanda VanderHart, 15th May

The tenor and pianist pair Britten and Schubert in their Lieder recital on the stage of the Großer Saal.

***11

Salome stripped bare in Hannover

Jonathan Sutherland, 22nd December

Ingo Kerkhof’s specious contemporary staging was only redeemed by a gruesome scalp and some marvellous playing in the pit.

***11

Sexism and callousness in Theater Basel's Don Giovanni

Sarah Batschelet, 27th January

In Richard Jones' production of Don Giovanni at Theater Basel, it was the singers alone who stole the limelight.

***11

L'isola disabitata: Not so deserted after all

Aksel Tollåli, 18th August

When one thinks of Haydn, opera really isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. It’s the symphonies, the string quartets, even his oratorios you think of first, not his operas. And yet he wrote 15 of them. L’isola disabitata is the eleventh of the bunch, written for the Eszterházy court in 1779, and it was this opera The Norwegian Opera and Ballet (DNO) chose as their 2012/2013 season opener.

****1

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Isabel Schubert

Isabel studierte an der Universität Hamburg Finnougristik und Historische Musikwissenschaft. Heute ist sie als Programmheftredakteurin für die Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern tätig. Von Kindesbeinen an besuchte Isabel Konzerte in ihrer Heimatstadt Hamburg und erlernte das Klavierspiel und das Singen im Chor. Die große Symphonik des 19. Jahrhunderts, Chormusik sowie die historisch informierte Aufführungspraxis liegen ihr besonders am Herzen.