Was it worth taking a risk on a more humbly presented St John Passion in Dublin after the best St Matthew I’m ever likely to hear (from Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Ensemble in St Patrick’s Cathedral)?
The answer, post-performance, is yes: quite apart from the opportunity to hear two of the greatest masterpieces, very different from each other, in the pre-Easter period, the scale of this gave us a larger but not oversize (32-strong) choir, the Dublin Bach Singers, delivering with huge emotional impact, precision and perfect shaping from experienced choral conductor Blánaid Murphy (pictured below) - even if continuity between numbers could have keener.
The thrills came immediately, the intertwining of the Marlborough Baroque Orchestra's two excellent oboists, David Agnew and Maria Rojas, rising to the heavens in the helpful acoustics of St Ann's Dawson Street, and the great cries of "Herr" hitting us straight in the gut. Murphy's steady hand rose to the challenge, and then it was immediately apparent that we were in the presence of a vivid Evangelist, young Dublin-trained tenor Andrew Gavin (pictured below), projecting effortlessly from the pulpit behind the other musicians. Maybe there was a bit too much upper-register-wise in head voice, but no expressive opportunity passed without special emphasis: the St John Passion's unforgettable articulation of Peter's weeping towards the end of Part One even had an Italianate catch in the throat.
Another young Dublin singer, bass-baritone Shokri Francis Raoof, had all the forthright dignity needed for Jesus, and delivered the arias with focused resonance. Bright soprano Kelli-Ann Masterson (a perfect Norina on Irish National Opera's Don Pasquale) had the right colour and ring, but needed to go a bit further in expression of the text (smile when it's joyously affirmative).
That was even more true of Eilís Dexter, a mezzo of warm and individual hue. Sometimes a dramaturg needs to be on hand for so theatrical a work. Neverheless "Es ist vollbracht" had much of its emotional impact, with perfect intonation from viola da gamba player Sarah Grosser.
Viola da gamba apart, the instruments were all modern rather than period, which made for sounds of a different beauty to what we've accepted as the norm. The two muted violins in the tenor arioso "Mein Herz, in dem die ganze Welt" brought us closer to Brahms, and there was a depth to the bite in the more fiery numbers. The chorus was tireless and magnificent in the long turba sequences of Part Two - the chromatic descents of the first still seem so contemporary – and deeply moving in "Ruht wohl" and the affirmative final chorale. They and their conductor can be very proud of the achievement,
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