Of the two passions of Bach which have been preserved, St. John was the first one to be composed, and was improved several times by the Cantor for different performances between 1724 and 1747. At Saint-Thomas Church in Leipzig, Bach had a choir and instrumental ensemble that was sufficiently well-trained to allow for the virtuosity of the arias and choruses of this rich passion, and he pushed the rhetoric to the extreme by emphasising the dramatic text as much as the doloristic text that it was meant to embody. It was by far the most extensive of his compositions and remains a favourite among audiences today for its extraordinary humanity.
Barely one year after his arrival in Leipzig, he performed this first great masterpiece for Good Friday in 1724. As such, you will be attending this exceptional evening on the three-hundred-year anniversary of the première of this masterful work. The Orchestra of the Opéra Royal, directed by Gaétan Jarry, will welcome renowned soloists and the formidable Tölzer Knabenchor.

Founded in 1956 near Munich, this boys’ choir is now the heir of seven decades of the most outstanding choral work. The choir – and in particular its young soloists – have performed around the world with, among others, Herbert von Karajan, Wolfgang Sawallisch, James Levine and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Today, it is the greatest children’s choir and especially dazzling in the German holy music repertoire, which the boys sing with joy in their own language. Unforgettable.