‘Passion,’ with drama: Lyric Opera of the North gives operatic staging to Bach’s ‘St. John Passion’
A young barefoot baritone in the role of Jesus; A neutral-tone clad guest chorus as the mob of people surrounding him; A mezzo-soprano embracing him.
“I sing these oratorios a lot,” said Lawrence, one of six soloists in the production. “It’s going to be really hard to sit still and sing Bach ‘Passions.’ They’re all stories.”
Lyric Opera of the North has given an operatic staging to Bach’s “St. John Passion” – which was originally written, and more commonly performed, as a liturgical piece. LOON’s production features a chorus of about 40 musicians from around Northern Minnesota, members of Twin Ports Choral Project as supporting characters, and soloists including Jarrett Ott as Jesus, William Ferguson as Evangelist, mezzo soprano KrisAnne Weiss in a Mary Magdalene-esque role, tenor Brian Wallin and Douglas Webster as baritone, Pontius Pilate and Peter.
The story is a retelling of Martin Luther’s translation of two chapters from the Gospel of John. Within it, Jesus is arrested, tried, crucified and buried. He’s visited by Mary Magdalene, he’s denied by Peter.
Lawrence, the company’s co-artistic director with husband Calland Metts, said local audiences have likely seen “St. John Passion” in its traditional concert form many times.
The opera company wanted to do with it what they do best: storytelling.
“We wanted to see if there was a way to apply what we do to this piece – which has all the elements of opera,” she said. “Great drama, the great scenes of love and anger and betrayal and violence toward each other and compassion and redemption. These are operatic themes.”
Luther+Bach
The Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra has built a season around the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, and its director, Dirk Meyer, has continued the theme in his side-gig as LOON’s music director.
“I thought it was an intriguing idea, to do something like this, take one of the ‘Passions’ and stage it,” said Meyer, who has only seen video footage of another company’s dramatic take on Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion.” “I’ve thought it was an extremely strong way to tell this particular story.”
And because of the timing – the Reformation was 500 years ago this month – and the direct link between Luther and Bach: “It seemed like an appropriate choice,” he said.
Director Robert Neu was faced with uncharted territory – kind of. He had not ever seen a staging of “St. John Passion,” but had staged “St. Matthew Passion.”
That, he said, gave him a shortcut.
“I had a point of reference for what style and tone works,” said Neu. “I started thinking about what that looked like and how it could be applied. It’s hard to know how to treat these ‘Passions,’ they weren’t meant to be staged.”
The biggest difference between St. Matthew and St. John: Much of “St. John Passion” is told by the street chorus, played by Twin Ports Choral Project.
To prepare, Neu said he read the text over and over and over again, then listened to the music over and over and over again. Then he started imagining.
Neu’s take
For people raised in, or familiar with Christian tradition, the story is well-known. Neu wanted to personalize it for audience members, so he removed the literal elements. There is no cross on stage, just a set of blocks to provide the symbolism. The set design is spare and does not suggest a place. The characters are not in period clothing.
“That would make it too much like a pageant,” he said.
One of his biggest creative decisions: Weiss’s Mary Magdalene is in a deep relationship with Jesus – if not romantic.
“The human terms are what make it so moving,” Neu said.
If the cast is to be believed, the moving part has been achieved. A recent rehearsal offered a moment that has already become goosebump-inducing lore.
“It started with that darn Sarah Lawrence,” said Neu.
In the second half of the performance, bodies are strewn across the floor and Lawrence wanders among them and delivers an aria about Jesus’ death on the cross and a reflection on all that has happened. It’s hard-hitting.
Neu recalled looking around the room and seeing tears streaming down faces.
The music director was also affected.
“I was really quite surprised, to be honest, how much I felt when I first saw that scene as I was conducting along,” Meyer added. “I really had to swallow many times during that aria to not tear up. It’s really powerful.”
It’s an image Meyer said will stick with him.
“I’ll never forget that and when I hear it, I’ll never forget those pictures,” he said.
