Johannes-Passion, BWV. 245

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Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the earliest of the surviving Passions during his first year as director of church music. It was first performed on 7 April 1724, at Good Friday Vespers at the St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig. The structure of the work falls into two halves, intended to flank a sermon, with the recitatives and choruses narrating Christ’s passion as told in the Gospel of John, with the ariosos and arias reflect on the action, and chorales using hymn tunes and texts. It was further revised on three occasions in 1725, 1730 and 1749 by Bach. The work most often heard today is the revised version, which was never performed during Bach’s lifetime. St. John Passion has been described as more extravagant, with an expressive immediacy than the later St. Matthew Passion.

Here are four albums:

Bach: St John Passion. Sir Eliot Gardiner with Nick Pritchard (Evangelist), William Thomas (Christus), Alex Ashworth (Pilatus), Julia Doyle (soprano), Alexander Chance (countertenor), Peter Davoren (tenor), and English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir. Release Date: 4 Mar 2022. Label: Deutsche Grammophon.
 
Bach: St. John Passion. Masaaki Suzuki with Zachary Wilder, James Gilchrist, Damien Guillon, Hana Blažiková, Christian Immler, Yusuke Watanabe, and Bach Collegium Japan. Release Date: 2 Oct 2020. Label: BIS.
 
Bach: St John Passion. David Temple with Sophie Bevan (soprano), Robin Blaze (countertenor), Benjamin Hulett (tenor), Robert Murray (Evangelist), Andrew Ashwin (Pilate, Peter), Neal Davies (bass-baritone), Ashley Riches (Jesus) & Peter Jaekel (organ), and Crouch End Festival Chorus & Bach Camerata. Release Date: 31 Mar 2017. Label: Chandos.
 
Bach: St John Passion. Rene Jacobs with Werner Güra (Evangelist), Johannes Weisser (bass arias/Christus), Andrew Redmon (Petrus), Johannes Schendel (Pilatus), Sunhae Im (soprano arias), Benno Schachtner (alto arias), Sebastian Kohlhepp (tenor arias), Fabienne Weiss (Ancilla), Minsub Hong (Servus), and Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, & RIAS Kammerchor. Release Date: 25 Mar 2016. Label: Harmonia Mundi.