St. Matthew Passion

J.S. Bach, Saint Matthew Passion BWV 244
Arrangement for soloists, 2 choirs, ripieno soprano and Dominique Sourisse’s orchestra (2022)

Opening concert

Unanimously considered one of the most important musical compositions of all time, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion inaugurates the second part of Stresa Festival 2022 in the renovated auditorium of the Palazzo dei Congressi in Stresa. Performed for the first time in April 1727 in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, it was reproposed a century later by Mendelssohn, confirming it as an absolute artistic masterpiece. Solo pieces, arias and recitatives, alternating with Lutheran choral items, insistently bring to life the dramatic aspects of the narration of the Passion. These are backed by the extraordinary use of the instruments, achieving such rich colors and harmonic construction that we are still left agape today.
The Passion has only been staged once at the Festival, in 1970, and this evening it will be performed by the Accademia dell’Annunciata conducted by Riccardo Doni, with important soloists – Vincenzo Capezzuto, Christian Senn, Sara Mingardo – and the Ars Cantica Choir.