No 70 Passion

J. S. Bach: Johannes-Passion, BWV 245.2 (Fassung 1725)

Künstler: Jakob Pilgram (tenor – Evangelist), Christian Wagner (bass – Jesus and arias), Miriam Feuersinger (soprano), Sara Mingardo (alto), Mirko Ludwig (tenor), Guglielmo Buonsanti (bass – Pilate), Francesc Ortega i Martí (bass – Peter), La Cetra Vokalensemble Basel, La Cetra Barockorchester Basel, direction: Andrea Marcon

At Bach’s time, the Good Friday vespers service in Leipzig was the occasion of the most ceremonious and elaborate music of the entire Church year. For that service in 1725, exactly 300 years ago, Bach wrote a new version of his St. John Passion, which had first been performed the previous year. In doing so, the Thomaskantor made a number of radical changes, replacing both the opening and closing choruses and inserting three new arias which further heighten the work’s dramatic character. This rarely heard version of the Passion is performed by the phenomenal La Cetra Barockorchester & Vokalensemble from Basel under the direction of the Baroque expert Andrea Marcon.