Our performance of St Matthew Passion at Snape Maltings on Easter Sunday has been critically acclaimed.
An act of teaching and persuasion: St Matthew Passion at Britten Pears
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As the tremendous opening chorus began we saw the 26 players of the “period instrument” orchestra Solomon’s Knot, with no director, divided into two symmetrically arranged groups, with the lone figure of the Evangelist who tells the tale seated centre-stage.
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But where were the singers? Seated among the audience, it turned out, to symbolise that they were “one of us”. There are just eight of them, doing duty for the two four-part choirs, the grief-stricken onlookers, and the characters of the drama … singing the entire work from memory. It allowed the dramatic human element to shine out, in a way that paradoxically illuminated the divine mystery at the heart of this incredible work.
The Telegraph / Ivan Hewett – Full Review
