Easter Joy

When Felix Mendelssohn performed J. S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion for the first time in a hundred years in Berlin in 1829, the concert was hailed as a grand cultural event – and over a thousand attendees were turned away at the door for lack of seats in the venue. The manuscript for Mendelssohn’s version of St Matthew Passion were recently restored and were published for concert use in November 2009.

In Turku, the St Matthew Passion will be performed outside the normal religious setting. The work will be performed in Logomo, the old engineering facility, which will provide a stark yet fitting setting for the performance. The St Matthew Passion will be performed by Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis, the Mary Chamber Choir, the Turku YMCA Chamber Choir Adastra, the Turku Cathedral Youth Choir, the Boy’s Choir Chorus Cathedrarlis Iuniorum (CCI) and the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Pertti Pakkanen. Soloists include Esa Ruuttunen (baritone) and Heikki Rainio (tenor).