Bach: St Matthew Passion

The Academy of Ancient Music and The Choir of Merton College, Oxford are joining forces for Bach's St Matthew Passion at the Schwarzman Centre on Sunday 21 March 2027. It's a full reading of the double chorus oratorio, and the timing is the point: the performance marks the 300th anniversary of the work's first staging.

For those who know the piece, it's a massive undertaking. It's a double chorus oratorio, so you've got two choirs and two orchestras running side by side, with the narrative told through a series of arias, recitatives and choruses. The evening gathers a fair bit of talent to cover it: Benjamin Nicholas conducts, with Ruairi Bowen as the Evangelist and Gareth Brynmor John as Christus. The soloists are Lucy Cox on soprano, Jess Dandy on alto, Jonathan Hanley on tenor and Henry Neill on baritone. The choristers of Merton College make up the choral side of things, and they're performing the whole thing from start to finish.

The venue is the Sohmen Concert Hall within the Schwarzman Centre, and the performance starts at 18:00. It's a long one, running three hours and ten minutes, so it's a proper evening's commitment rather than a quick stop-in. If you're planning to be there, keep that duration in mind.