The passions of St. John

One of the most famous Baroque music orchestras and the well-known Belgian vocal ensemble that specializes in Ancient music, come together for a performance in collaboration with the annual Festival of Ancient Music of Seville, Festival de Música Antigua de Sevilla, (FeMÀS).

It is Bach and his St. John Passion that summons us, hand in hand, with two groups who unite to perform one of the most beautiful pieces of our historical musical heritage. The other, the St. Matthew Passion filled the Teatro de la Maestranza on Palm Sunday, 2022.

The excellent Freiburger Barockorchester (FBO) was founded in 1987. Under the joint leadership of violinists Gottfried von der Goltz and Cecilia Bernardini, it performs in halls around the world such as the Philharmonie of Berlin, Wigmore Hall of London, Lincoln Center of New York, Concertgebouw of Amsterdam and Philharmonie of Paris. The orchestra tours across the globe from South America to Australia.

On this occasion, this special performance will be in the company of Vox Luminis, a musical ensemble created in 2004 by Lionel Meunier. Among other many distinctions, in 2012 it received the Baroque Vocal Award and Recording of the Year at the prestigious Gramophone Classical Music Awards.

The St. John Passion was premiered in Leipzig by Johann Sebastian Bach on Good Friday 1724. It is based on Chapters 18 and 19 attributed to the Gospel of John, in the translation of Martin Luther. Considered one of the most daring and expressive pieces by the composer, it forever changed our way of understanding and experiencing music. Thanks to the sublime interpretation by Felix Mendelssohn of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829, the audience rediscovered Bach.