Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic

Passion concert

The St. Matthew Passion, one of the two extant complete passions by Johann Sebastian Bach, was composed towards the end of his life, when he held the position of cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. After the premiere on Good Friday, April 15, 1729, nobody would have predicted the future popularity of this work. The score was shelved in an archive and forgotten for 100 years, until it was discovered and again brought to audiences by the German composer and conductor Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy at the Singakademie in Berlin on March 11, 1829. When Bach was working on St. Matthew Passion in the autumn of 1728, he learnt about the death of his friend, Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, and was requested to provide some mourning music for the funeral service. However, Bach was utterly unable to write anything else three weeks before the premiere of his Passion. Therefore, he asked Friedrich Henrici, aka Picander, a very well-known and prolific poet of the time, to pen some verses for the completed parts of the Passion. The literary source of the work comprised the 26th and 27th chapters of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. That text was supplemented by Picander with 28 verses, musically presented as meditative arias. As the author of Bach’s biography, Ernest Zavarsky aptly put it “no words can convey the depth and beauty of this masterpiece.”

Wykonawcy:

Sylwester Smulczyński – tenor, Adam Kutny – baritone, Marta Boberska - soprano, Dorota Lachowicz - alto, Tomasz Krzysica - tenor, Jarosław Bręk - bass

Kai Bumann – conductor

Dawid Ber – choir master
Anna Kamerys – choir master

Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir

Program:

Jan Sebastian Bach - Pasja wg św. Mateusza BWV 244