Too operatic, too dramatic, not appropriate for the occasion—the congregation at Leipzig's St. Nicholas Church was not impressed when Johann Sebastian Bach performed his St. John Passion there for the first time on Good Friday in 1724. In fact, Bach goes beyond a simple setting of the Passion story and fully exploits the dramatic potential inherent in the text of the Gospel of John with all musical means at his disposal. Above all, the numerous choral scenes lend the work an almost theatrical power. And although it is a biblical story that is told here, it is the great, universal human themes that are at stake: loyalty and betrayal, suffering and compassion, denial and forgiveness.

In cooperation with the international “schrit_tmacher Festival,” Olivia Fuchs is staging Bach's most dramatic Passion this season. Musicians and dancers join to develop a new interpretation of the “St. John Passion,” in which contemporary dance adds another dimension of expression to Bach's timeless music.

March 15 - 19:00

March 29th - 17:00

April 6th - 17:00

May 10th - 17:00