St Matthew Passion – review

18 April 2011

JS Bach could churn out masterworks with mind-boggling efficiency, but he took his time over the St Matthew Passion, holding back its premiere and rejigging several versions of the score before he died. Compared with his earlier St John Passion, the Matthew has similar dramatic narrative (and lots of the same tunes), but beyond that is a different beast. It's longer, more intricate and less immediate; its drama unfolds over three-and-a-half hours of astoundingly varied forms – seething choruses, soaring arias, melodramatic recitatives – that can drag out for ever if done clumsily.

Not so with the Dunedin Consort. The Edinburgh-based early-music group don't perform often, but are top-notch when they do. Their director John Butt, a leading baroque scholar in his day job at Glasgow University, conducts with a balance of academic scruples and profound musicality that makes for spot-on overall architecture. His sense of narrative – the music may be majestic but the Passion is ultimately about telling a story – was quick-paced and driven by easy, swinging lyricism.

The performance was stripped to small forces, which had its pros and cons. The orchestra sounded direct and lithe, and had the sensibility of a chamber group, with a notably capable wind section, fine continuo playing from cellist David Watkin and an excellent leader in Pavlo Besnoziuk. The one-per-part choir had to work a bit harder to create a credible group sound and inevitably lacked clout in the big choruses. They doubled as soloists with varying success: best were tenor James Oxley, an urgent and vocally compelling Evangelist, and Derek Welton, whose Jesus had a great booming baritone, relaxed phrasing – and just a hint of an Aussie accent. His final aria, Mache dich, was a thing of real beauty.
 
The Guardian 17th April 2011
 
Kate Molleson