When Bach's St John Passion was first heard, on Good Friday 1724 in Leipzig, it was performed as part of the service of Vespers. St Mary's Choir and the period instrument ensemble Paradizo, conducted by Andrew Abbott, looked back to this tradition with a liturgical performance of the work which brought out the solemnity, emotion and drama of Bach's retelling of the Passion narrative.

Sensitivity to the text was always to the fore, in the rich choral textures as well as in the fine solo interpretations by members of the Choir. The fickle energy and smugness of the crowd were portrayed particularly vividly. The performance was well paced, the frequent alternations of chorus, chorale, recitative and solo aria deftly handled to create a sense of the momentum of events and at the same time to interweave story-telling with personal, meditative reflection.

Paul Suter brought vocal strength to the part of Christus, and Nicholas Drew, in the key role of the Evangelist, held the work together with recitatives which were faultlessly enunciated and full of emotional understanding. Sensitive accompaniment by Paradizo, with continuo playing on the chamber organ by John Keys, complemented the singing perfectly.

Grahame Whitehead