A few days before Easter, the Fenice Theatre will host a very intense concert: Dutch maestro Ton Koopman conducting the resident orchestra and choir on Bach’s Matthäus-Passion BWV 244, starring Ian Bostridge as Matthew and Thomas Lask as Jesus. Considered one of the most deep and poignant works of Bach’s sacred repertoire, the Matthäus-Passion premiered on April 11, 1727 in Leipzig, in St. Thomas Church, where Bach held the post of Kantor from 1723 to his death in 1750, and it used to accompany the Good Friday vespers, setting music to chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew in their German translation by Martin Luther. Alternating drama and music, the piece stages the Last Supper, the Arrest of Jesus, the Sanhedrin Trial, the Pilate Court, and the Crucifixion.
