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Brilliant performance Matthäus Passion. Flexibility, drama and resignation.

The community in Steenwijk met with the Czech Boys Choir Boni Pueri before. As a manager Jan Toor succeeded to arrange a number of sold-out concerts.

Still this Matthew Passion was not a copy of the one before. This time the baroque-orchestra Musica Florea participated. It has specialized in the authentic performance of ancient music. The ensemble had gathered round the mobile organ, excellently playing in the colourful recitatives and beautiful aria’s. The musicians played on ancient instruments or copies, which gave a buoyant balanced sound.

Besides conductor Pavel Horák has worked hard on a very expressive way of singing. The light timbre of the boys’ voices were done justice in an excellent way during the canonic chorusses. The excited cynical scenes of the passion were sung with sense of tragedy. “Ja nicht auf das Fest” sung by these boys, sounded indignantly, matching the lyrics. In this interpretation the strong symmetrical structure of the Matthew Passion was performed clearly and with flexibility. Considering the fact that more than half of the boys was singing this piece for the first time, one can only respect the flawless starts and beautifully completed interpretations of the lyrics. Real deep basses could give the choir more power and foundation, especially in the monumental chorals. The arrangement under the big church-organ did not do justice to the typical sound of a double choir. Probably by lack of space the boys were placed as one big choir, corresponding with the division in the orchestra.

Another significant difference from the performance of two years ago was the exceptional voice-technical quality of the soloists.
Of course the Evangelist Jaroslav Březina should be mentioned. He not only knew how to recite the course of the story with increasing intensity and sense of drama, but he took care of all tenoraria’s as well. His narrative style – with the right quantity – became more exciting as he went along in the dramatic story.

Countertenor Markus Forster, with his extremely elegant and gentle voice, knew to bring the aria “Erbarme dich” to a dramatic climax. With minimal vibration he made Bach’s unprecedented melodious richness sound crystal-clear.

A breathtaking moment in this Matthew Passion was also the scene about thunder and lightning when Jesus is captured. Alto and soprano sing in a dialogue full of grating diphthongs how Jesus is led away like a criminal, while his disciples protest invain. With great sense of diction soprano Noemi Kiss sang the bittersweet “Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben” accompanied by a transverse flute and two alto-oboe’s

. The two gamba-aria’s ("Geduld” and “Komm süßes Kreuz”) were performed wonderfully in this authentic version. In the final chorus still resignation sounded in which the only harrowing note does not seem willing to dissolve. As no one else Bach had a feeling for symbolism and every phrase of the lyrics has an appropiate melodious course

. Like this the Matthew Passion must have sounded in its original form in the Thomaskirche of Leipzig. But nobody knows this for certain.

Dick Idema (25. 3. 2002)