Bach’s Passions

In 2027, the Hong Kong Arts Festival presents the only two surviving Passions of Bach, each through a distinct performance practice.

The St Matthew Passion, marking its 300th anniversary, is performed by the Thomanerchor Leipzig—the very choir Bach wrote the work for—and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, two legendary institutions whose history is deeply intertwined with the life of the composer.

And the St John Passion arrives on period instruments under the baton of René Jacobs, whose four decades of experience in Baroque vocal music bring a sharp, dramatic focus to the score.

One vast and contemplative; the other lean, urgent and visceral. Heard side by side, they illuminate the fascinatingly different ways that Bach recounted the final days of Christ.