St Matthew's Passion

Bach's St. Matthew Passion
The Concertgebouw Orchestra's annual Passion performance is one of the longest-running concert traditions in the world. Then-chief conductor Willem Mengelberg introduced the annual performance of Bach's mighty St. Matthew Passion around Easter in 1899. Later, the orchestra alternated the Passion according to the Gospel to Matthew with Bach's equally masterful St. John Passion, and more recently with Passions by other composers. But the "Matthäus" remains number one in the Netherlands: for decades it has been at the top of the favorites lists of classical music lovers.

John Butt
Bach set the Passion nearly three hundred years ago in such an evocative and compelling manner that it leaves no one untouched. The British conductor, harpsichordist, organist and musicologist John Butt is one of the leading Bach specialists of recent years. It is high time he came to share his vision of the immortal masterpiece with the Concertgebouw Orchestra.