The Passion tradition is a serious business in the Netherlands. Anticipation builds in the months leading up to Easter festivities, and it is considered the norm to attend multiple performances of Bach’s great works charting Jesus’ betrayal, trial, crucifixion and death. The Concertgebouw Orchestra’s biennial St. Matthew Passion tradition dates back to 1891 under Julius Röntgen and continued under chief conductor William Mengelberg, who at my counting, directed an amazing 89 performances between 1895-1945. The orchestra’s move towards more historically informed performances with specialist conductors such as Nikolas Harnoncourt (who led 24 performances between 1976-89), Ton Koopman, Roger Norrington and more recently John Butt (music director of the Dunedin Consort) and Riccardo Minasi (co-founder of Il Pomo d’Oro) created a valuable inheritance, evident not only in Bach’s passions, but in their reverence to creating unique sound worlds in music old and new.
A return to tradition
The RCO’s decision then to return to the tradition and invite the chief conductor designate Klaus Mäkelä to lead this year’s St. Matthew Passion is both a gamble and a vote of confidence. With further performances at Baden-Baden’s Easter festival to start their three-day residency (taking over from the Berlin Philharmonic) the Dutch press was out in force. Would Friday’s performance, the first of perhaps many, be that perfect passion we all yearn for?
Creating a distinctive sound world
From the outset, issues persisted regarding the creation of a distinctive and consistent sound world which has hitherto been a keystone in Mäkelä’s RCO performances. Firstly, the organ continuo was just too loud. But more than that, it painted everything with the same brush. Subtlety and nuance became something of a battle. Positioned in front of both the evangelist and continuo cello, communication likewise became tricky. For much of the time, try as he might, principal cellist Gregor Horsch struggled to be heard.
The second difficulty lay in the two violin solos whose approaches came from opposite ends of the performance spectrum. Guest leader Daniel Cho’s ‘Erbarme dich’ adopted a very romantic vein, and despite stylish phrase ends, insufficient light and shade to illuminate the text coupled with some surprising portamento raised eyebrows. In contrast, Tjeerd Top’s fabulous solo for Krešimir Stražanac’s ‘Gebt mir meinem Jesus’ encapsulated the urgency of the moment. His vivid string crossing displaying an implicit understanding of Bach’s harmony not only harnessed a distinctive sound world that previously had been missing, but more importantly, enhanced the storytelling.
The singers
Nevertheless, there was still much to be applauded. Julia Lezhneva’s ‘Aus Liebe’ provided the emotional climax of the evening – lingering consonants and ornamental word-painting abounded. But it was Emily Beynon’s accompanying flute solo full of intense desolation and longing which will haunt me forever. Maximillian Schmidt as the Evangelist was the master of dramatic action, lulling the audience out of various slumbers by changing the mood seemingly at the flick of a switch. Matthew Brook’s very mature Jesus found full flow when resigned, disappointed or even disheartened. Could his disciples really not stay awake to keep watch?
Stražanac struck fear when depicting Christ drinking from the cup holding the sins of the world in ‘Der Heiland fällt’, while counter-tenor Tim Mead’s gravelly lower register contrasted with light, dripping ‘Tropfen’ (drops) and delicate cadential ornamentation. Similarly Orchestra II’s dotted rhythm against the plunging and threatening bass line in his ‘Erbam es Gott!’ was servant to the text as the executioner’s blows tortured our Lord. Laurence Kilsby’s ‘Geduld!’ (Patience!) with the amazing viola da gamba player Stefan Woudenberg, whose fast bow speed left enemies strewn on the floor, captured the complexities of emotions.
Two Dutch choirs played their part.
The Nederlands Chamber Choir’s explosive ’Sind Blitze, sind Donner’ (With lightning, with thunder) opened the abyss as furious cellos and double basses led the fray. Similarly, the National Children’s Choir, devoid of the heavy burden of sin, soared over the very busy accompaniment. On this first night and singing from memory, their entries just seemed a little uncertain.
The quest for the perfect passion, it seems, continues for another year.
This concert was reviewed at the Concertgebouw on Thursday 27th March, 2026
The St. Matthew Passion cast and soloists
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