St Matthew Passion 2021

This season, the Netherlands Bach Society returns to the source of the St Matthew Passion. The earliest musical traces of Bach’s greatest work are found in the ‘Frühfassung’. Those who are enamoured of the later score from 1736 (and who isn’t?) will be surprised in this 1729 version by different voices in some arias, one chorale more or less, and the occasional unexpected timbre in the orchestra. Hardened listeners will also discover how in this early version Bach is still tinkering with the double-choir element that makes the ‘definitive’ St Matthew such a monumental work. One thing is certain, and that is that opera conductor René Jacobs will indulge his dramatic instinct to the full, on interpreting the ingenious dialogues, impressive choirs and overwhelming mix of styles that Bach masters down to the last detail.