SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Thank you, Trinity Church, for making life a little easier for this reviewer.

Having this performance available immediately, streaming on-demand on the Internet, does allow the reviewer to lay to rest any doubts he may have as to what he really heard. The choir and the orchestra: were they really out of synch in the opening chorus? Did I hear the soprano struggling with those high-As in Zerfliesse mein Herze? Was the Evangelist's voice flagging at the upper and lower ranges of Erwäge? That wonderful aria, Es ist vollbracht, could I hear that again? At Trinity Church high technology meets Gothic architecture. The church is decked out like a TV studio: video cameras permanently attached to the 19th century columns, microphones dangling from the ceiling, flat paneled monitors fit for any sports bar, even a camera embedded in the conductor's podium, making Andrew Parrot appear on screen as if he was giving the upbeat to a Web-cam on his laptop. A cutaway to the organist's back, my friend thought, would have required a camera to be placed on the Crucifix behind his head. (It wasn't.)

At the same time, you might say that Trinity Church is doing what Bach's church did in Leipzig, lavishing money on the making of music. Although Bach felt he was vastly underpaid, complaining that his post as Cantor was “by no means as lucrative as was described to me,” much money was spent on orchestral players, instruments, copyists and the like. The St. John Passion was Bach's first really elaborate and extended production, written for the Easter service in Leipzig in 1724. For uncertain reasons the performance was not given at Bach's St. Thomas Church, but at the nearby St. Nicholas Church. This change in venue required a substantial outlay of money for both transferring equipment and making repairs to the church's poorly maintained harpsichord and organ.

As to the concert at hand, yes, the opening chorus was a little wobbly, but the singing improved as the evening progressed. The soprano did seem to strain a bit in Zerfliesse mein Herze, but in truth this aria's vocal range is more naturally suited for a countertenor. The role of the Evangelist was given to the only soloist outside the Trinity Chorus's regular singers, Mark Molomot. While he does not have the sweetest voice, he has obviously specialized in this difficult role, handling the near measure-long, successive breath-denying notes of Erwäge adequately. Some of the singers, including the Evangelist, could have used some practice in German pronunciation; I found it difficult at times to understand what was being sung. Soprano Molly Quinn's Ich folge dir, supported by the two flutists, was lovely. Bass Steven Hrycelak's singing, either because of his voice or the acoustics, made the words to the aria Eilt, ihr angefochtnen Seelen undecipherable. Timothy Hodges in the arioso, Mein Herz, revealed a confident voice, pure and crystal clear, a voice one would have liked to have heard from the Evangelist.

It was during the aria Es ist vollbracht that I realized that although there is no second-rate Bach, this was not first-rate Bach either, certainly not the Bach of the St. Matthew Passion. Es ist vollbracht, movingly sung by Virginia Warnken and sensitively supported on the viola da gamba by John Mark Rozendaal, reaches towards the heights of its glorious sibling, the St. Matthew Passion, in its aria, Erbarme dich. Aside from Es ist vollbracht, little of the music from the St. John Passion approaches the emotional level of even the weaker moments in the St. Matthew Passion. The soloists in the St. Matthew Passion take on a more active roll in the production than they do in the St. John Passion which leaves it up to the Evangelist to carry the dramatic thrust forward. In the St John Passion, we are told by the Evangelist what transpired, whereas in the St. Matthew Passion more of the story is told by the singers actually performing their roles. Having twice been lucky enough to see Jonathan Miller's re-enactment of the St. Matthew Passion, I cannot see a dramatization ever being done of the St. John Passion.

Not that there weren't some wonderful moments to be heard. For example, I loved the way Jesus's five note descending phrase “Es ist vollbracht” is taken up in the aria that follows which then concludes not with the usual solo instrument's ritornello but with the singer hauntingly repeating the five note phrase. It was interesting too how in the aria Mein teurer Heiland lass dich fragen a chorale is interleaved with the bass solo, confirming again just how much of Bach's music has as its cantus firmus the Lutheran chorale.

Much of the success of this production should be credited to Andrew Parrott who did a tremendous job bringing out the best from the choir and orchestra. Note should also be made of the superb playing by the concertmaster Robert Mealy.

Stan Metzger

This production is available for viewing at Trinity Church's Web site.