Review by Northings
ST. Matthew Passion
St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, 11 March 2006
Conductor John Grundy.
THE STAGING OF Bach’s ‘St Matthew Passion’ in St Magnus Cathedral must be one of the most ambitious musical projects ever mounted in Orkney. With two choirs and two orchestras involved in the three-hour recital – not to mention the provision of a meal at the interval – the logistics of the evening must have bordered on the terrifying.
Orkney had been largely snow-bound only a few days previously, and the prospect of musicians and singers arriving from Edinburgh only a day before the performance would be enough to turn any organiser ashen-faced.
The choir from the Chapter House Singers, Edinburgh, and musicians from the capital’s St Mary’s Music School met up on Friday evening with Orkney’s Mayfield Singers and Orkney Camerata for their first joint rehearsal. After another day time get-together on Saturday, they faced a well-filled Cathedral for the performance in the evening.
The project had its genesis in last year’s collaboration between the Mayfield Singers and St Mary’s Music School of Edinburgh when they performed Bach’s ‘St John Passion’ in Dunkeld Cathedral (despite weather and transport problems which prevented some of the key performers taking part).
John Grundy, the Director of Music at St Mary’s, suggested to Neil Price, Director of the Mayfield Singers, that they should consider putting on the St Matthew Passion both in Orkney and Edinburgh. (It will be repeated in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh on Saturday 25 March at 6pm.)
But enough about the logistics and the background. Was it all worth it? It certainly was. It was a triumph, a treat, and a little foretaste of heaven (apart from the Cathedral chairs, three hours in which provided a free sample of purgatory).
The music of Johann Sebastian Bach is simply sublime. As Cantor in Leipzig, he followed up his superb ‘St John Passion’ with ‘St Matthew’, believed to have had its first performance on Good Friday, 1727. Such great chorales, which contained popular hymns, satisfied both the music aficionados and the punters.
Like the medieval mystery plays, these powerful musical retellings of the drama of Holy Week were wonderful means of communicating the Christian message to a wide range of people, both literate and illiterate. Those who attended were obviously of strong constitution; at the interval, they were treated to an hour-long sermon. Michty me.
In ‘St Matthew Passion’, the two choruses, each consisting of a choir, an orchestra and a group of soloists, represent two groups – the Daughters of Zion and the Faithful. The movement is a form of dialogue. For the expression of the whole community, the two choirs join together.
For the Orkney and Edinburgh performances, a key question had to be faced: should it be sung in the original German, or in English? Remember that at the time of the Reformation, a critical battle was fought over having the gospel in the vernacular, rather than in Latin.
It was a triumph, a treat, and a little foretaste of heaven
In his introductory notes, Neil Price reveals that there was division over the matter in the Birsay, Harray and Sandwick manse. “My wife who, although German, is a Church of Scotland minister, believes strongly that we should be singing in English. However, any English translation has to be contorted so much to fit Bach’s music that the result is an ugly distraction from the music.”
I think that the decision to sing in German and to provide an English translation was a good one. We had the full force of the original language, along with the meaning of the texts in English. It worked.
Now Mr Bach is sublime, but he does go on a bit. These gorgeous, majestic chorales and the lovely arias swept through the auld Kirk like incense. They were a joy. Now and again Johann Sebastian and his librettist can’t resist the temptation to lay it on with a trowel – a bit like the old preacher: “Ah tells them what Ah’m going to say, then I says it, then Ah tells them what Ah’ve just said.”
The two orchestras performed really well, as did the two choruses. It was hard to believe they had spent so little time together in rehearsal. Orkney and Edinburgh met and melded beautifully.
The narrative structure is carried by the Evangelist, so his role is crucial. Michael Lee, who did the same job in the ‘St John’ in the King Street halls, was superb. More than once he seemed on the verge of running out of control, but he held the line extremely well.
Normally soloists have weeks, if not months, to familiarise themselves with their parts, but Marjory MacLean had only two days. On Thursday she bravely answered a call to deputise for Judith Brown. If she struggled now and again it was no fault of hers, and it was to her credit that she let no-one down. Her fellow mezzo-soprano, Emily Turton, sang her arias with great strength and clarity.
Graham Garson and Ashley Turnell were fine tenors, and Neil Price and Henry Manning were convincing bass soloists. Andrea Price sang her soprano arias expertly – I thought Andrea kept up her German accent rather well – as did Nicola Corbishley. Edmund Holt, by now a Pilate veteran, was in good voice, and Lindsay Blair was a clear-toned Pilate’s wife.
Special mention should be made of James McNeill. He was a strong and expressive Jesus, employing his fine baritone voice to excellent effect in a performance which stays in the mind.
None of the soloists were imported; they all came from the two choirs. That fact speaks volumes for the musical talent and coaching in the Orkney and Edinburgh establishments.
The man who held all this together was conductor John Grundy. He dealt with the two choirs and the two orchestras with aplomb, and it was clear that both singers and musicians responded to him with enthusiasm and commitment.
The only thing I missed was the opportunity for congregational singing in the “hymn” chorales – yes, even in the original German. But that’s a minor quibble in what was a truly memorable evening.
One slightly surreal moment came just before the Crucifixion, when we all trotted up to the St Magnus Centre to be fed excellent sandwiches and home bakes by the good ladies of Birsay and Sandwick Church Guilds. All very Orkney. The proceeds were for an excellent cause – the “Get a Life” project in AIDS-ravaged Malawi.
When the evening was over, Neil Price must have been both relieved and exhilarated. He and his team deserve congratulations for the boldness and imagination of the whole project. Johann Sebastian Bach would surely have approved.
© Ron Ferguson, 2006
