Summary
By Rick Jones Millions of years ago, when I was an A-level music student, the typical Bach exam question required candidates to present evidence that the composer could have written an opera if he had wanted to - in other words, that the sequence of narrative -aria- chorale used in his St Matthew Passion or St John Passion was identical to the recitative-aria-chorus formula used in opera. Despite the ominous presence of images of dead children, projected on to the curtain for the opening number and subsequently in niches surrounded by votive candles, Mitchell avoids sentimentality, a tendency in opera that was anathema to sober Lutherans, brought up on dry reason.
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Passion Play
Passion play
Glyndebourne's St Matthew Passion, set in the aftermath of a school tragedy, was a risk worth taking. By Rick JonesMillions of years ago, when I was an A-level music student, the typical Bach exam question required candidates to present evide...See the full content of this document
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