Experience a different kind of “passion” – J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Derived from the Latin word “passio” (suffering), Bach’s masterpiece tells the story of Jesus’ suffering and death according to the Gospel of St. Matthew.
Composed for Easter Week 1727, the work features incomparably beautiful music and dramatic storytelling covering the range of human emotions affected by injustice, doubt, fear, pain, and death.
Belief in Jesus or any religion is not a prerequisite to appreciating what Bach so masterfully intended to convey.
Now rarely heard live because of its complexity, the piece requires the interaction of two choirs, two orchestras, solo voices, obbligato instruments, a narrator (the evangelist Matthew), and soloists portraying Jesus, Peter, and Pontius Pilate. Seeing and hearing this masterpiece in the remarkable new University of Wisconsin Hamel Music-Mead Witter Foundation Hall guarantees an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The work will be sung in German with English supertitles. Buy tickets for in-person or livestream/on demand performances at https://madisonbachmusicians.org/st-matthew-passion-by-j-s-bach/