When the Melbourne Bach Choir performed J. S. Bach’s St John Passion at the Melbourne Recital Centre two years ago, I wrote that I hoped it would become as much an MBC Easter staple as his St Matthew Passion – the choir’s foundational work. It would seem it has.
With a possibly unprecedented number of major Melbourne performances of the St John Passion by three different organisations in less than a week, it was a busy time for several in-demand soloists and instrumentalists specialising in baroque music.
But why all these performances of the same work? Shorter and more manageable than the St Matthew Passion, it is an earlier masterpiece that presents the Passion of Christ in striking detail. In the light of current distressing events, however, the program notes raised the issue of whether St John’s depiction of the treatment of Jesus by Jewish authorities and the populace could be interpreted as potentially anti-Semitic. This seems to neglect the fact that Jesus, his disciples, family and most of his friends were Jewish. Any implied anti-Semitism would require a great deal more cognitive dissonance than the musical dissonance that may have surprised the first listeners in 1724.
Many soloists and instrumentalists had performed in the 2023 MBC version, but the major change was the size of the choir. For the earlier performance we heard the reduced numbers of the Chamber Choir; this time the full choir of approximately 90 voices participated. With 27 sopranos, 36 altos, 15 tenors and 15 basses, there was a limited attempt to balance the voice parts, but that did not necessarily mean that the altos were going to drown everybody else out; it did, however, increase the danger of creating a muddy swirl of sound in the highly reverberant acoustic of the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall. Having the acoustic blinds fully retracted gave the soloists a chance to shine but often prevented clear definition of choral lines.
Although the magnificent opening chorus “Herr, unser Herrscher” (Lord, our ruler) made a tremendous initial impact, it often became diffuse as lines merged in the first statement. This was less problematic later on. Much of the chorus work was strong in the Second Part when the chorus becomes participants in the action. Although the sopranos tended to dominate, Bach gives the male choristers an opportunity to make their mark, such as in “Wir haben ein Gestetz” (We have a law). A striking moment came in “Wir dürfen niemand töten” (We are not allowed to kill anyone) and very distinct parts were audible in “Lässest du diesen los” (If you release this man). The chorales were sung with precision and warmth, MBC’s Artistic Director and Conductor, Rick Prakhoff, setting tempi that were fairly sprightly without feeling at all rushed.
In the key role of Evangelist, the vastly experienced and highly regarded tenor, Christopher Watson, gave a sensitive and musically nuanced but somewhat contained performance, leaving it to the choir and soloists to provide much of the drama. Technically accomplished, he sang the famous description of Peter weeping “weinete bitterlich” with a long, clean well-controlled legato line. The melismatic depiction of Jesus’ scourging in “geißelte” was portrayed with incisive energy.
As Jesus, baritone Christopher Hillier once again brought a remarkable degree of expressiveness to everything he sang. Even with the lower A415 pitch, he had no trouble with providing rich resonance on the bottom notes. The confrontation with Simon Meadow’s Pilate was particularly effective as they quite literally interacted, not in an overly theatrical way, rather one that brought the story to life. Meadows had the presence and sonorous vocal authority to give us a totally credible Pilate.
Bass-baritone Jeremy Kleeman and tenor Timothy Reynolds completed the male contingent of this outstanding lineup of soloists. Vocally and musically secure, their voices were well projected, vibrant and most pleasing to the ear at all times. It is little wonder that both have had an extremely busy Easter; after singing the tenor arias for this performance, Reynolds was the Evangelist for the Scotts Church St John Passion a couple of hours later. He had also sung both tenor arias and Evangelist for the St Mark Passion – testament to an outstanding vocal technique. It was no surprise that he was able to sing the long tenor aria “Erwäge” (Ponder) almost from memory and imbue it with meaningful expression. Precision and easy vocal agility were to the fore in this aria, which was accompanied most beautifully on viola da gamba.
The presence of period instruments was one of the joys of this performance. Kleeman’s fine singing of the bass arioso “Betrachte, mein Seel” (Consider, my soul) was accompanied by two violas d’amore, the players flanking the conductor to provide a slight antiphonal effect. These instruments have a seductive texture like no others, the extra strings providing a special resonance that bathes the overall sound in delicate warmth. It was moments like these when the hall’s live acoustic was most valuable.
In one of the happier moments of the Passion, two baroque flutes accompanied Jacqueline Porter’s radiantly clear soprano voice for “Ich folge dir” (I follow you), establishing a practice of featured instrumentalists standing when possible. Flute and oboe da caccia also made a beguiling accompaniment for the moving “Zerfließe, mein Herze” (Dissolve my heart), which ended with a kind of sobbing trill on “tot” (dead). The expressive detail that all singers brought to this performance was astonishing.
Oboes and bassoon also made splendid contributions to the first alto aria, and Laura Vaughan’s viola da gamba was a crowning glory for the pathos of the heart-wrenching final alto aria “Es ist vollbracht” (It is fulfilled). Always engaged and alert to the musical drama whether singing or not, mezzo-soprano Sally-Anne Russell gave a moving performance of this aria, her rich tones darkly poignant in the outer sections and brightly assertive with fluid coloratura in the contrasting middle section.
Nothing more could have been asked of the Melbourne Baroque Orchestra as individuals or as a whole. The continuo players, led by Donald Nicolson on organ and harpsichord, were exceptional throughout.
This performance was a richly rewarding celebration of the Easter story on so many levels. The program cover image of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri’s sublime Good Friday painting was a reminder that this story transcends and unites time and cultures.
Image reproduced by special permission. Credit: Artwork by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri: Good Friday 1994
(National Gallery of Australia, Canberra)
© the estate of the artist, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd.
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Heather Leviston reviewed the performance of J S Bach’s “St John Passion” presented by the Melbourne Bach Choir at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, on Friday April 18, 2025.
