the St Matthew Ardour within the wonderful Sheldonian Theatre made notable by some robust particular person performances

The Berlin Singakademie constructing, designed by Carl Theodor Ottmer, 1825-1827, now Maxim Gorki Theater portray by Eduard Gaertner, 1843

Bach: St Matthew Ardour; Nicholas Mulroy, Ashley Riches, Julia Doyle, Helen Charlston, Samuel Boden, Michael Mofidian, Choir of The Queen’s School, Oxford, the boys of Radley School, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Owen Rees; Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra’s Bach Mendelssohn Competition the Sheldonian Theatre
Reviewed 2 March 2025

Celebrating Mendelssohn’s revival of Bach’s nice Ardour in a symphonic efficiency in a traditionally apposite venue. Nicholas Mulroy’s Evangelist and a few robust solo singing make for a major night

When Mendelssohn carried out Bach’s St Matthew Ardour with the Berlin Singakademie in 1829 he had recognized the work since at the least 1824 when his sister Fanny gave him a duplicate of the rating for his fifteenth birthday. However the Mendelssohns had been carefully interlinked with Bach’s reminiscence, certainly one of Felix and Fanny’s nice aunts was a scholar of Wilhelm Friedeman Bach and a pal of Carl Philipp Emmanuel. It is because of her, and her brother (Felix and Fanny’s grandfather) {that a} substantial amount of Bach’s unique manuscripts had been collected and survived.

Felix Mendelssohn introduced Bach’s St Matthew Ardour in 1829 (to have a good time what was then believed to be the centenary of the primary presentation of the work). It was a really totally different work to what Bach might need skilled. There have been substantial cuts (together with ten arias) and Mendelssohn adjusted the recitatives, while his performers included over 150 singers and 70 gamers.

Since then, Bach scholarship has developed and it isn’t unknown for performances to make use of as few as eight singers, following the Lutheran custom of Bach’s time. However Bach’s music is ready to transcend even essentially the most particular person imaginative and prescient, whether or not or not it’s a full choral symphonic efficiency on trendy devices or a traditionally knowledgeable on utilizing small forces and a vocal ensemble.

The primary a part of Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra‘s Bach Mendelssohn Competition took Mendelssohn’s Elijah as its focus, so it was becoming that for the second half, the competition turned its consideration to Bach’s St Matthew Ardour on Sunday 2 March 2025. Owen Rees, director of the choir of The Queen’s School, Oxford, carried out his choir together with members of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra on the Sheldonian Theatre, with Nicholas Mulroy because the Evangelist, Ashley Riches as Christus and soloists Julia Doyle, Helen Charlston, Samuel Boden (changing Man Gutting) and Michael Mofidian. Michael Mofidian sang Pilate with the opposite roles taken by members of the choir.

This was very a lot a symphonic efficiency, Rees carried out a choir of practically 40 singers (plus the boys of Radley School) with an orchestra of practically 40 gamers on trendy devices and taking part in Bach in a really late Nineteenth-century type. Such large-scale performances works if the individual on the helm has a really clear stylistic concept of what they wish to obtain. Anybody who has heard David Hill conduct the Bach Choir of their annual St Matthew Ardour will know what will be achieved, and I can always remember listening to the joint forces of the Tölz Boys Choir, choir of St Thomas’ Church Leipzig and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, carried out by Riccardo Chailly in 2009, filling the stage on the Barbican Corridor and offering a profoundly shifting expertise [see my article].

As conductor of the Sheldonian Theatre efficiency, Owen Rees appeared to have far much less of a stylistic view of the work. He drew very wonderful singing certainly from his choir however over all his strategy was that of a kapellmeister, drawing the varied threads of the night collectively but by no means fairly making them cohere into an entire. This meant that there have been stylistic disjoints. On the opening of Half Two, Helen Charlston’s plangent line and dignified classical strategy didn’t appear to exist in the identical expressive world because the hushed choral textures from Choir Two in ‘Ach, nun ist mein Jesus hin!’. And in Charlston’s movingly direct account of ‘Erbarme dich’ later within the work, her centered depth contrasted markedly with the quite Nineteenth century strategy to phrasing from solo violine Carmine Lauri and the strings.

Oddities of position allocation within the orchestra appear to have meant that at one level the flautist from Orchestra One performed with the wind gamers from Orchestra Two. And in Michael Mofidian’s remaining aria, ‘Mass dich, mein Herze’, the oboists of Orchestra Two (taking part in oboes d’amore) joined with the physique of Orchestra One to quite deleterious impact on ensemble at instances. Mofidian appeared to undergo greater than as soon as, as in his early aria ‘Komm, süßes Kreuz’, solo cellist Peter Adams (who had contributed plenty of wonderful continuo cello), turned to the viola da gamba and right here his taking part in was effortful with some poor tuning.

However there have been, certainly, many beneficial properties. The refrain was on robust type, and I very a lot appreciated their lithe, youthful and centered tone, allied to a way of self-discipline. Rees’ speeds had been regular, in order that most of the choruses had a way of lightness, however within the nice choruses that start and finish the work, there was no scarcity of expressive depth. Seven members of the choir contributed solos with a notable Judas from Ben Gilchrist and a wonderful Peter from Bastian Bohrmann.

The area that Rees afforded his performers meant that Nicholas Mulroy’s Evangelist actually appeared to blossom. Singing from reminiscence, this was a profoundly communicative efficiency as Mulroy appeared to direct the story proper at us. And it was prime story telling as Mulroy expressively different his tone, timbre, quantity and supply, usually turning on a pin, to convey the last word expression of the textual content. And this wasn’t some kind of bravura efficiency, it had a easy directness to it, simply Mulroy and us and a strong story.

Ashley Riches made a dignified Christus, typically trenchant and making his statements in Half Two actually imply one thing. Although Riches by no means fairly discovered that magic one thing which allows a contemporary Christus to make the half converse regardless that it’s comparatively compact. Maybe it didn’t assist that the halo of strings that Bach supplies for the position, had been right here given a really Nineteenth century spin by way of phrasing.

Julia Doyle made a poised and trendy soprano soloist. In her first solo, you felt that she was aiming for a extra intimate chamber efficiency and stability typically favoured the orchestra, however in her solos with only a few devices accompanying, Doyle actually did create actual magic. Mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston [whom we last saw with Solomon’s Knot singing Bach’s St John Passion one to a part, see my review] right here produced loads of fabulously expressive, plangent but centered tone with a way of line in order that her singing was all the time on level it doesn’t matter what the orchestration. Tenor Samuel Boden, like Julia Doyle, gave the impression to be aiming for a lighter, extra intimate work and his greatest moments had been these when it was simply him and the continuo. Bass Michael Mofidian produced some actual high quality singing, with pretty full but centered tone and an expressive use of his resonant voice throughout the vary. His remaining two arias with highlights, however every time he sang the dramatic stress rose. That he was Pilate, interacting with Riches’ Christus in a extremely dramatic manner, meant that these scenes had an additional frisson to them.

The Sheldonian Theatre dates from the 1660s and has remained considerably unchanged. It was the scene of Handel’s premiere of Athalia, and so not totally inappropriate for Bach. The venue is considerably difficult for contemporary audiences and our seats, while having a terrific view, did quite require one thing of a health check earlier than accessing them!

The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra’s Bach Mendelssohn Competition continues till 20 March, see web site for particulars.