Bach St John Passion

Leeds Philharmonic Chorus, St Edmunds Roundhay, Saturday 15th March 2025:

by Melanie Eskenazi
published: 17 Mar 2025 in Opera + Classical Music Reviews

‘O Mensch, mache Richtigkeit…’ in these dark times, the advice in the second part of the St John Passion to ‘act justly’ seems especially appropriate, as we hover on the brink of so much conflict. This concert season is dominated by the St John, with few outings for the St Matthew Passion, and this seems appropriate since the John is a passion of love and reconcilement.

The Leeds Philharmonic Chorus has been around since 1870, and it is now based at the Leeds Conservatoire. It’s stronger on sopranos and altos than tenors and basses, but Joseph Judge, its conductor and Chorus Master, manages to elicit a very homogenous sound from its numbers. ‘O grosse Lieb’ concluded with a finely phrased ‘Und du must leiden’ (and you must suffer) and ‘Wer hat dich so geschlagen’ demonstrated the kind of fine control which comes from intensive preparation. The wonderful closing chorale showed the Chorus at its best, ‘Mein Heiland und Genaden thron’ (My saviour and throne of mercy!) ringing out with declamatory ease.

The soloists were a youthful team, with the strongest performances coming from the bass James Berry and the soprano Isla MacEwan. The former’s distinctive bass, sonorous in the lower register yet mellifluous higher up the stave, brought his arias to dramatic life, with an especially gripping ‘Betrachte, meine Seel’. The soprano has a very bright, flexible voice, strong in ensemble and fluent in her arias; ‘Ich folge dir gleichfalls’ was sung with real distinction. Both these artists are members of the Royal Danish Opera.

“The wonderful closing chorale showed the Chorus at its best…”

William Balkwill’s voice is on the light side for the Evangelist but he made the most of his recitatives, giving suitable emphasis to the key moments such as ‘Als nun Jesus wusste alles, was ihn begegnen sollte‘ (As Jesus knew everything that was to happen to him). Jonny Hill was a calm, benevolent Christus, and Julianne Coates brought her considerable experience to the alto part, her ‘Es ist Vollbracht!’ one of the evening’s highlights. The punishing tenor arias are not easy for anyone, and the young Henry Strutt gave them a creditable performance.

The players of the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra took a little while to get into their stride, but under the sympathetic baton of Joseph Judge, they produced some gently supportive playing for the arias and some superb continuo and accompaniment for the recitatives. Special mention must be made of the flute in ‘Ich folge dir gleichfalls’, the Viola d’amore in ‘Betrachte, meine Seel’ and the violins in ‘Mein teurer Heiland’. The playing in those arias would grace any concert hall.

St Edmund is the patron saint of, amongst other things, those affected by Plagues and Pandemics, and the church consecrated in his honour is a handsome Edwardian edifice. The acoustic is ideal for large scale performances yet does not diminish the more intimate moments.