Passionate, intelligent and movingly eloquent

Bach’s St John Passion Barbican

At this time of year, performances of the Passions of JS Bach, those stupendous retellings of the story of Christ’s trial and Crucifixion, can be heard in concert halls and churches everywhere.

It seems almost invidious to pick one out for review, but this one of the more lean and dramatic St John

Passion seemed especially enticing, if only because of James Gilchrist’s name among the soloists. He’s so familiar with the role of the Evangelist who tells the story that he now inhabits it to perfection – as this performance proved. He knows just how to switch from a tone of anger or distress to calm consolation, leaving just enough space between the two for us to breathe, but not so much that dramatic momentum is lost. Another attraction was counter-tenor Iestyn Davies. He sang the final heart-broken aria Es ist vollbracht (It is Finished) with daring slowness, but with such perfect control of line that he carried it off.

They and soprano Mary Bevan – wonderfully light and innocent in Ich folge dir (I follow you) – were the familiar faces among the soloists. New to me was the American bass Cody Quattlebaum, who was a Christ out of central casting, with his flowing locks and sweetly dignified voice and demeanour. Another new name was Turkish tenor Ilker Arcayürek. He struggled with the jagged vocal leaps of Ach mein Sinn (Ah My Soul), but in Part 2 he recovered his poise and found the emotional heart of his aria contemplating Christ’s wounded frame.

Supporting all this was the wonderful Academy of Ancient Music, which fielded three superbly eloquent soloists in Bevan’s lofty aria Zerfliess Mein Herz (Dissolve My Heart). And guiding everything with an impassioned and sensitive hand was conductor Rinaldo Minasi. I didn’t warm to everything he did – some of the angry choruses in the Trial Scene were just too hurried – but his way of bending the tempo both to the meaning of the words and the natural “breathing” rhythm of the music was exemplary. I’ve never heard the final chorus conducted more intelligently, or more movingly.