J.S. Bach

Known as the “great Passion” because of its scope, stunning emotional range and theatrically dramatic presentation of the last days of Christ, the Passion According to St. Matthew is one of the world’s great works of art. This was Bach’s summation work of the Baroque polychoral tradition and we present it antiphonally, as he intended, with two choirs, two orchestras, a children’s chorus and a world-class roster of period soloists. In 1989 the San Francisco Bach Choir staged the first American production of this Passion to use fully historical instrumentation. In this, the tenth anniversary year of that presentation, we salute Magnificat Baroque Orchestra and bring them to perform with us again for a stirring reprise of this monumental work.