St John Passion

JS Bach St John Passion

Choir of the AAM
Richard Egarr director & harpsichord
James Gilchrist Evangelist
Matthew Rose Christ
Elizabeth Watts soprano
Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano
Andrew Kennedy tenor
Christopher Purves bass

Sung in German

An all-star cast joins the Academy of Ancient Music for an exciting performance of JS Bach’s masterpiece.

Combining raw intensity with moments of exquisite intimacy, the St John Passion was written soon after Bach’s arrival as Kantor at Leipzig’s Nicholaikirche. Keen to impress a new congregation, Bach produced a new setting of the age-old passion story which overshadowed almost every piece of liturgical music the world had previously known.

The drama of this remarkable work will be brought to life by a cast led by James Gilchrist, praised by the Evening Standard for his “sublime storytelling”, and including the great mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly and acclaimed young soprano Elizabeth Watts.

Listen to James Gilchrist talk about Bach's St John Passion

'The authenticity here went to the core of Bach’s responses to the Easter story, and to the beating heart of his musical language' The Times