Prom 48 - 20.08.17: A Patchwork Passion

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

15:30 Sunday 20 August 2017
Royal Albert Hall

Chief Conductor Designate of the BBC Singers, Sofi Jeannin, makes her BBC Proms debut in a concert with City of London Sinfonia which celebrates Passion compositions from the last five centuries.

Joined by tenors Thomas Elwin and Oliver Johnston and the bass David Shipley, Passion works from Johann Walter through to James MacMillan are explored in a programme depicting the Passion of Christ through many and varied compositions.

Thomas Elwin, tenor
Oliver Johnston, tenor
David Shipley, bass
BBC Singers
City of London Sinfonia
Sofi Jeannin, conductor

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

???

[bluestateprommer]

Here's the "playlist", collated from the BBC R3 page (they live-posted each selection as it started, good on the Beeb), which I've tweaked in my usual manner:

Johann Walter: 'German Passion after Saint Matthew' (excerpt)
Heinrich Schütz: Lukas-Passion (excerpt)
Johann Walter: "German Passion after Saint Matthew' (excerpt)
Heinrich Schütz: Lukas-Passion (excerpt)
J.S. Bach: Passion According to Saint Matthew (excerpt)
Handel: Brockes-Passion (excerpt)
C.P.E. Bach: Passion According to Saint Matthew (excerpt)
Joseph Haydn: Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (excerpt)
Felix Mendelssohn: Christus (excerpt)
Carl Loewe: Kleine Passionsmusik (excerpt)
John Stainer (orch. Barry Rose): The Crucifixion (excerpt)
Charles Wood: St. Mark Passion (excerpt)
Sofia Gubaidulina: St. John Passion (excerpt)
Arvo Pärt: Passio (St John Passion) (excerpt)
Sir James MacMillan: Seven Last Words from the Cross (excerpt)
J.S. Bach (orch. Jonathan Mannes): Passion According to Saint John (excerpt)

According to SM-P, John Butt and Jonathan Mannes devised this sequence. (No idea who JM is, as Google failed to reveal him, most probably because I'm misspelling his name.)

As a one-off idea, to my very secular ear and brain, and granted that I was in total ignorance of the texts (except the obvious moment of the mob calling for crucifixion - even I caught that), this actually worked very well. Obviously a huge change in musical styles was to be expected between the beginning (1500's) and the 21st century, but the lineup made that transition without abrupt jolts. The individual singers did well, as did Sofi Jeannin leading the orchestra and chorus in a pretty high-pressure situation, her first Prom as conductor before she takes over as the BBC Singers' chief conductor.

[Roger Judd]

(No idea who JM is, as Google failed to reveal him, most probably because I'm misspelling his name.) Try Jonathan Manners - he is the BBC Singers' Producer. An extremely well executed programme I thought, and how nice/appropriate to have no applause until the end! An auspicious start to Sofi Jeanin's time with the Singers too.
RJ

[Ein Heldenleben]

Yes -when I described on another thread this weekend's prom pass as the choral singing bargain of the century I inexcusably left off this concert . A very interesting and meticulously produced programme and a credit to all involved.

[doversoul1]

Although it looked rather gimmicky on paper (on website), I very much enjoyed this Prom. What’s come over the BBC Singers!? As (I think) Caliban said awhile ago, they sounded like a choir rather than singers. I look forward to hearing their performance of more early repertoire.

[jean]

It worked really well - I thoroughly enjoyed it.