Johann Sebastian Bach
St John Passion
Benjamin Bruns
Evangelist
Christian Immler
Jesus/bass
Yusuke Watanabe
Pilate
Carolyn Sampson
soprano
Alexander Chance
counter-tenor
Shimon Yoshida
tenor
Bach Collegium Japan
Masaaki Suzuki
conductor
Reviewed by:
Reviewed: 19 August, 2024
Venue: Royal Albert Hall
Nobody does Bach quite like the Bach Collegium Japan. The ensemble makes a welcome return to the Proms for the composer’s concentrated depiction of Christ’s arrest, rendition and execution – the St John Passion. Probing, unsettling, dramatic and beautiful, Bach’s work is known as much for its optimism as for its turbulence, its final bars appearing to invite all of us to imagine a brighter future. Specialist soloists led by Benjamin Bruns, Christian Immler and Carolyn Sampson join Masaaki Suzuki and his ensemble for a performance of Bach’s masterpiece marking three centuries since it was written.
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