Concerto of Passion

The suffering and death of Christ are the focus of the Gospels. The Passion of Jesus has inspired countless artists and composers to some of their most significant works. Many of these came about originally for the church – as did Bach’s Passions – where they served as popular education or part of the liturgy. Only over the centuries did they »migrate« into the concert hall. Conductor Nicholas Collon will combine some of the sensitive meditations that Joseph Haydn wrote on the »seven last words of Our Saviour on the cross« with James MacMillan’s stylistically epoch-spanning, dramatic choral composition, into a personal representation of the Passion in which the Chorwerk Ruhr becomes the narrator. Countertenor Bejun Mehta confers another powerful facet upon this narration of the Passion in works by Johann Sebastian Bach. The event dates back a long time. The events on Good Friday continue to drive artists through the present day.