Raphael Pichon © Julia Wesely
Pygmalion / Pichon
Bach: Johannespassion
Thursday
10
April
2025
19:00 – ca. 21:20
Großer Saal
Presented by
Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft
Quite ingenious
On Good Friday in 1724, Johann Sebastian Bach presented his St. John Passion in Leipzig's Nikolaikirche - in a sense the highlight of his first season as Thomaskantor. Within a year, he put a good forty new church cantatas on paper, which were performed during the course of the church year. During the music-free period of Lent, he was able to concentrate on composing the St. John Passion, which captures the story of Jesus' Passion in music in a gripping way based on the Gospel text - embellished with highly emotional arias, dramatic choruses and well-known Passion songs. Robert Schumann found the work »thoroughly ingenious«. And it was the St. John Passion that made Raphaël Pichon realize that music was his calling - at the time, he was a member of the Versailles Boys' Choir. At the Vienna Konzerthaus, he brings Bach's highly dramatic work to life on the podium of his ensemble Pygmalion. Julian Prégardien can be heard as the Evangelist, with Huw Montague Rendall, Ying Fang, Lucile Richardot, Laurence Kilsby and Christian Immler taking on the other roles.