Celebrate the 300th anniversary of the creation of one of Bach’s great masterworks!
The gripping Passions of Johann Sebastian Bach remain unparalleled in their dramatic impact and universally experienced emotional effects. Bach took the genre to new worlds of expression, incorporating new Italianate operatic elements with the Lutheran tradition of sung chorales. The result is a powerful force of rhetoric that tells the Passion story reinforced by personalized illuminations.
This is music that transcends cultural, religious, and theatrical boundaries between performers and audience members, drawing in listeners as historical participants. Maestro Thomas, one of the Baroque music world’s most celebrated Bach specialists, brings his unique and insightful perspectives to the podium in definitive performances that are profoundly beautiful and moving.
“When I heard the American Bach Soloists perform the St. John Passion in Belvedere Friday, the unashamed earnestness of their presentation was a powerful example of how persuasive and even seductive this music can be when under the care of great performers.” — Jonathan Rhodes Lee, San Francisco Classical Voice
Performing the pivotal role of the Evangelist — considered a tour-de-force — is the young tenor Gregório Taniguchi, who makes his American Bach debut in these concerts. Gregório crafts compelling and unstuffy performances that move audiences. His dedication to rhetoric in music draws listeners to hear historical works as a dynamic and living part of our musical culture, illuminating classics for a modern audience. He empowers narratives with an intuitive sense of storytelling, especially as the Evangelist in Bach’s Saint John Passion.
Conductor Jeffrey Thomas is “unsurpassable as a Bach interpreter”... “Thomas' direction seems just right, capturing the humanity of the music... there is no higher praise for Bach performance” — Fanfare