United States Bach, St. John Passion: Soloists, La Chapelle de Québec, Orchestra of St. Luke’s / Bernard Labadie (conductor). Carnegie Hall, New York, 10.4.2025. (RP)
Bach – St. John Passion, BWV 244
Andrew Haji (tenor) – Evangelist
Philippe Sly (bass-baritone) – Jesus
Joélle Harvey (soprano)
Hugh Cutting (countertenor)
Samuel Boden (tenor)
William Thomas (bass) – Pilate
For his final appearance as principal conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Bernard Labadie chose Bach’s St. John Passion. He led a commanding performance in which the drama of Jesus Christ’s final hours unfolded with exceptional cohesion and power.
Although operatic in scale, the St. John Passion was intended to be performed in a church on Good Friday in the early seventeenth century. One can only imagine its emotional impact on those gathered on the most solemn day of the Christian calendar after weeks of spiritual reflection and preparation for Easter. Even in these more secular times, the work can be a gripping emotional experience, as it was on this occasion.
Labadie accomplished this through an unerring sense of balance on all levels, especially when integrating the solo singers into the performance. This was a sextet with vastly different vocal endowments and, for Labadie, the differences were opportunities to be exploited rather than obstacles to overcome.
Andrew Haji, the Evangelist, and Philippe Sly, Jesus, stood center stage surrounded by chorus and orchestra. Haji’s crystal-clear tenor declaimed the narrative of the Passion with total command of the text. He conveyed every dramatic turn in the story without ever resorting to histrionics but rather through enunciation, vocal colors and dynamics. Sly was a potent Jesus whose rich voice communicated power, mystery and world-weariness to equal effect.
In this telling of the Passion, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea who presided over Jesus’s trial and ultimately ordered his crucifixion, is the other key figure. Bass William Thomas, who sang the part, is commanding in figure and voice. Standing at the front of the stage, his vivid Pilate had the potential to overpower the performance. Labadie’s control and Thomas’s sensitivity made certain that he was an integrated, balanced part of the whole.
In the bass solos, Thomas was appropriately contemplative in ‘Betrachte, meine Seel, mit ängstlichem Vergnügen’ to the exquisite accompaniment of gambist Mélisande Corriveau and lutanist Sylvain Bergeron. In ‘Eilt, ihr angefochtnen Seelen’, Thomas summoned urgency through fiery coloratura and keen attention to the text. The drama was further heightened by the surging and precise forward propulsion of the strings and the plaintive interjections of the women’s chorus inquiring where they must hurry with such haste.
Countertenor Hugh Cutting is cut from dramatic cloth, never breaking his concept of character once on the stage. His perfect enunciation and impassioned delivery, coupled with the virtuosic playing of oboists Stephen Taylor and Melanie Feld, created an all-encompassing sense of despair in ‘Von den Stricken meiner Sünden’. Gambist Corriveau’s captivating, poignant introduction to ‘Es ist vollbracht!’ was equaled in scale and depth by Cutting. In a flash, he sang exultantly in the aria’s explosive middle section.
Soprano Joélle Harvey tripped joyously with her silvery tone through ‘Ich folge dir gleichfalls mit freudigen Schritten’ to the accompaniment of flutists Elizabeth Mann and Tanya Dusevic Witek. Harvey sang ‘Zerfliesse, mein Herze, in Fluten der Zähren’ in tones practically parched of color. The simplicity and purity of her voice intensified the reality of Jesus’s death, as did the plaintive accompaniment of flute and oboe da caccia.
Samuel Boden’s tenor commanded not through volume but rather the intensity with which he sang. Labadie provided Boden with the perfect orchestral setting for the singer to express the complex emotion of ‘Ach, mein Sinn’. In ‘Erwäge, wie sein blutgefärbter Rücken’, Boden vied with violinists Krista Bennion Feeney and Alex Fortus for depth of expression. The delicacy of the tenor’s colorings and shadings rivaled his ability to shape a phrase or wring emotion out of a sustained high note in the aria.
The Orchestra of Saint Luke’s was not merely a consort of superb soloists. Sensitive to Labadie’s every gesture and impulse, they added incomparable beauty and emotion to the performance. La Chapelle de Québec, a period vocal ensemble that Labadie founded in 1985, provided drama throughout.
The chorus’s every repetition of ‘Herr, unser Herrscher’ ratcheted up the emotional intensity of the monumental opening chorus. The chorales were sung with a devout simplicity which provided space for reflection yet never impeded the performance’s incessant, forward propulsion. The pivotal but brief choruses that punctuated the exchanges between Pilate, Jesus and the crowd were exciting and precise, especially the crisp counterpoint of ‘Wir haben ein Gesetz’.
As with the opening chorus, each repetition of ‘Ruht wohl’ in the final chorus amplified its emotional impact, but the warmth in their voices spoke of compassion, not dread. The final chorale, ‘Ach Herr, lass dein lieb Engelein’, was sung full-voiced and forthright. In Bach’s day, the congregation would have left in silence. The silence lasted only seconds in Carnegie Hall before the applause rang out.
Rick Perdian
Featured Image: Bernard Labadie (conductor) with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s © Chris Lee