This performance of the ‘St. Matthew Passion’ commemorated
the 50th anniversary of the first complete performance of
the work in Britain in its ‘original’ form, given in March 1952 and
directed by Paul Steinitz. That ‘conscious attempt to take a fresh look
at a masterpiece’ has of course been followed by so many competing versions
of this great work, but few of them can have provided such pure musical
pleasure as this one; indeed, of the ‘Matthew Passions’ I have heard
over the past few years, this one ranks alongside performances employing
far more stellar casts and given in far more commodious surroundings,
although of course much is to be gained from hearing Bach in this wonderful
setting with its crystalline acoustic and warmly welcoming ambience.
We all make our judgments on such works from different
angles; for me, it is the Evangelist and Christus who make or mar this
Passion, and on this occasion both parts were cast from strength. Rufus
Müller is an exceptionally dramatic, interventionist storyteller,
as far distant as can possibly be imagined from the tie-and-tails plus
score one usually sees: indeed, there were a few moments where even
I balked at his dramatic underscoring of points, most notably the sob
in the voice at ‘und weinete bitterlich’ – the music already makes the
point here, and there is no need to over-stress it. That being said,
his impressively score – free, deeply involved performance, with perfect
diction and lucid, sweet – toned phrasing, was an example of really
distinguished singing, and I would go so far as to say that his Evangelist
is the only one from a currently active singer to be regarded on the
same level as that of John Mark Ainsley, and coming from me that’s praise
indeed.
The Christus of Thomas Guthrie was clearly heavily
influenced by another singer whom I regard highly, Matthias Goerne;
indeed, Mr. Guthrie has clearly studied Goerne’s sublime Christus to
such an extent that he has not only adopted many of the German baritone’s
vocal inflexions, but also a whole cabinet-full of his visual tics –
everything, in fact, save the nose-pulling. No matter; Guthrie will
find his own way, since he is gifted with a very individual, slightly
husky voice, a most engaging stage presence and a real commitment to
the music. His ‘Es währe ihm besser… was genuinely threatening,
and his ‘Trinket alle daraus’ beautifully mellifluous. As yet, he pulls
some of the lines about a bit too much, but his performance was strong
on humanity and drama, both qualities which made him an excellent partner
to Müller’s Evangelist.
Elsewhere, there was much to enjoy amongst the solo
singing, all provided by young members of English Voices; Cecilia Osmond
impressed with her lovely bright tone in her aria, and both Robert Rice
and Reuben Thomas gave strong performances – the best of the group was
probably Giles Underwood, who managed his recitatives characterfully
and sang ‘Mache dich, mein Herze, rein’ with real feeling. The playing
was a constant delight, the strings during ‘Gäb’ mir meinem Jesu
wieder’ being especially vibrant, and the oboes producing an ideal liquid
tone. Timothy Brown directed with verve and passion, and the English
Voices and Choir of Clare College sang with neat attack and eloquent
phrasing, never once making anything near what might be called an ‘English
Choral’ sound. It was a nice touch, as well as an authentic one, to
have the audience join in with some of the chorales, and though I say
so myself, we didn’t do at all badly, sections of us actually managing
to sing in harmony during ‘Befiehl du deine Wege.’
Melanie Eskenazi
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