J. S. Bach: St. John Passion

Johann Sebastian Bach: St. John Passion, BWV 245

Heikki Hattunen (Evangelist)

Olli-Jaakko Miettunen (Jesus)

Jussi Lehtipuu (Pilate and bass arias)

Sofia Harju (soprano)

Stanislav Kriuchkov (alto)

Tampere Cathedral Choir

Chamber Orchestra Tampere Chamber

Concert conducted by Riikka Viljakainen

On Good Friday, J. S. Bach's dramatic St. John Passion will be played in Tampere Cathedral. The concert brings together a skilled choir and orchestra, as well as soloists who interpret the passion with finesse.

Johann Sebastian Bach had been cantor of Leipzig Cathedral for less than a year when his first passion was premiered. Musically fierce, dramatic and intense, the St. John Passion recounts the events of Easter, from Jesus' imprisonment to his trial, crucifixion and death, in a way that still shakes the listener more than 300 years later.

The choir plays a central role in the work: it describes the events, appears as a wild crowd and occasionally balances the work with gentle chorales. Bach has written the most emotional content in the arias. The most sorrowful of them are heard at the moment of Jesus' death, but the story of the St. John Passion does not end there; The closing chorale, reminiscent of a lullaby, contains the promise of eternal life.

Tampere Cathedral Choir – more familiarly known as the Tampere Cathedral Choir, is a new choir founded in 2023, with the aim of bringing great and beloved church music works to the core of the parish's concert activities.

Tampere Cathedral Choir (TCC) was born from the cantors' bold decision to establish a new choir from scratch. The choir is directed by Riikka Viljakainen and the choir is guided by experienced vocal pedagogues Eveliina Ylikoski, Katja Mäkiö and Pirjo Mäntyvaara.

The choir was founded with great church music works in mind and the choir made its debut on Good Friday 2024 in Tampere Cathedral, where the choir successfully performed Mozart's Requiem. The thing that unites the singers of the Tampere Cathedral Choir is the desire to sing together key church music and to create a community where each singer can influence what the choir will be like vocally, musically and in terms of atmosphere. The choir has strong potential sonically and is highly motivated to learn more about singing. Singers come to rehearsals from the centre of Tampere as well as from dozens of kilometres away from different parts of Pirkanmaa.

Tickets are on sale at lippu.fi. Prices: €20–31 + subscription fee from €1.50 + 0.65% of the order.