The 24 May 2021 OperaLive stream presented highlights from Johann Sebastian Bach's Matthäus-Passion (St Matthew Passion) in the adaptation by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. The concert was streamed from 8:00 p.m. on Facebook and Origo.hu.
The St Matthew Passion is Bach's greatest work, one which constitutes an unsurpassable pinnacle not only of Protestant church music, but in the universal history of music. Forgotten after Bach's death, the work was played in Berlin on 11 March 1829, a century after its original performance, with Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who adapted the work to Romantic tastes in music performance. The resounding success resulted in a repeat performance on March 21, Bach's birthday, which became a significant social event: present were both the court and the crème de la crème of the contemporary German intelligentsia. This launched the Bach renaissance, and in a wider sense, the general practice of resurrecting earlier music.
Soloists: Zoltán Megyesi, István Kovács, Gabriella Fodor, Atala Schöck and Marcell Bakonyi
Featuring Klára Vajda, Orsolya Bagosi, Balázs Somogyi and Péter Forgács, members of the Hungarian State Opera Chorus
Pianist: Balázs Kálvin
Musical director: Gábor Csiki
Staged by András Aczél
Hosted by Dániel Mona
The performance can be viewed HERE.
Photo by Péter Rákossy