St. Matthew Passion
Suomen Laulu’s 113th performance of the Passion
J.S. Bach
Mati Turi, evangelist
Veikko Vallinoja, Jesus
Johanna Isokoski, soprano
Jeni Packalen, alto
Juho Punkeri, tenor
Tomi Punkeri, bass
CandoMini, Helsingin konservatorion nuoret laulajat and Kannelkellot
Suomen Laulu, training Esko Kallio
Finnish Baroque Orchestra
Jonas Rannila, conductor
Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and the mixed choir Suomen Laulu have a long shared tradition – the founder of the choir, Heikki Klemetti, brought the Passion tradition to Finland in 1921. Only the wars and the pandemic have broken the tradition. St. John’s church in Helsinki was established as the venue at an early stage.
The St. Matthew Passion has been called the Passion of Passions, and it is written for a double choir, a double orchestra and a soloist ensemble. The St. Matthew Passion is one of two remaining complete Passions by Bach. The work has by no means been performed widely during the entirety of its long history, rather it was brought back to life by Felix Mendelssohn in 1829 after falling into oblivion for almost one hundred years. The building blocks of this magnificent masterpiece of Easter music are arias, narrative recitativos, the Evangelist’s narration, choirs and chorales. At times the choirs and orchestras alternate, at times everybody joins in singing and playing at the same time.
The story follows St. Matthew’s gospel and retells the events of Easter as told by the Evangelist and in the soloists’ recitativos. In the arias and choirs we stop to interpret individual parts of the story. The soloists have more than one role and they express different emotional states, for instance anguish, remorse and anger. The choir does also switch between roles, at times being disciples, soldiers, a brawling crowd or a chorale choir pondering the events. Bach was successful in his objective to compose a work that would surpass its liturgical intentions and endure time. Almost 300 years later we find that regardless of whether the listener is reading the score, an English translation or is just listening, in the amazing acoustics of the large churches the music has something to give everyone.
Duration: 3 h 15 min (incl. intermission)
Tickets 70/60/50/40/30/25 €: choristers, Suomen Laulu's shop, Lippupiste's points of purchase and lippu.fi (The service fee 3,60–4,60 € is added to the ticket price when purchasing tickets via Lippupiste.)