Bach’s intense retelling of Christ’s passion follows chapters 18 and 19 of the Gospel of John in words of the Lutheran bible. The Evangelist role will be performed by renowned British tenor James Gilchrist, recognised as ‘the finest Evangelist of his generation’. The role of Christ will be sung by Welsh bass-baritone Neal Davies, another internationally acclaimed artist and former winner of Cardiff Singer of the World Lieder Prize. The beautiful arias of the St John Passion will be sung by outstanding voices of soprano Rowan Pierce, alto David Allsopp, tenor Robert Murray and bass Ashley Riches.
The choir is joined by the highly regarded period instrument group Florilegium, with whom they have given many performances of baroque masterpieces over the years and are well-known to Winchester audiences.
The performance will be conducted by Andrew Lumsden, director of the Waynflete Singers and Winchester Cathedral’s own Director of Music, and whose expressive interpretations of Bach have been much admired.
JS Bach St John Passion
The Waynflete Singers with Florilegium
James Gilchrist, Evangelist
Neal Davies, Jesus
Rowan Pierce, soprano
David Allsopp, alto
Robert Murray, tenor
Ashley Riches, bass
The Waynflete Singers
Florilegium
Conductor: Andrew Lumsden