|
|
Article: Classical Music: St John Passion St John's Smith Square, London
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- April 8, 1996
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
Bach's St John Passion is both the earlier and the more
enigmatic of his two surviving works in this form. Whereas the St
Matthew Passion is both musically and texturally more balanced and
heterogeneous, the St John is more of a mongrel - choruses and
arias bunched rather than distributed evenly - the fault lies with
St John's telling of the tale rather than with Bach. At St John's
Smith Square on Good Friday, Stephen Layton conducted as spare and
austere a performance as I've heard for some time. Here was a
"period" performance with all the attendant advantages and
disadvantages of this approach: a small band, the Brandenburg
Consort, bristling with wonderfully coloured instruments - ...
Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:
|
|
Article: CLASSICAL: WAITING FOR FIGARO St John's, ...
The Independent - London;
September 23, 2002 ;
625 words
... ... recorded the extracts; but encountering them live at St John's, Smith Square, archly semi-staged by Gray and Thomas Guthrie ... though not range). Saberton capitalised on the St John's aircraft-hangar echo in Don Pippo's "Siano ...
|
|