The Passion according to St. John was first performed on Good Friday 1724 in Leipzig. This composition became a special work for Johann Sebastian Bach, to which he returned many times, making successive transformations and revisions. In a monograph devoted to Bach, Christian Wolff even suggests that one could even speak of Saint John “Passions”, taking into account the number of versions of this masterpiece prepared by the composer over the years.
The composition consists of two parts, which – in line with the liturgical order of Good Friday Protestant Vespers, constituting the “musical culmination of the year” – were separated by a sermon. Transported to a concert venue, the Passion does not lose its spiritual depth. The moving biblical text constitutes the dramatical and narrative basis of the work. Recitatives, sometimes interrupted by the choir’s cries, build tension and also play an important introductory role for the arias. Between the successive fragments of the Gospel resound chorales which serve as a commentary and contemplative arias of a lyrical nature, which, using poetic texts by various authors, are a vehicle of strong expression. In its entirety, St. John Passion is an extremely emotional and personal musical picture of the suffering and death of Christ, painted in the spirit of the passionate and sincere devotion of the Leipzig genius.
PERFORMERS
EVANGELIST JACEK SZPONARSKI
JESUS ROBERT GIERLACH
PILATE PAWEŁ CZEKAŁA
SOPRANO JOANNA RADZISZEWSKA
ALTO ANNA RADZIEJEWSKA
TENOR SYLWESTER SMULCZYŃSKI
BASS PAWEŁ MICHALCZUK
THE CHORUS OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA
THE PERIOD INSTRUMENTS ENSEMBLE OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA CAPELLA REGIA POLONA
JAKUB SZAFRAŃSKI CHORUS MASTER
KRZYSZTOF GARSTKA POSITIVE ORGAN, CONDUCTOR
