BACH, St John Passion

Pygmalion was founded in 2006 by Raphaël Pichon , who was barely 22 at the time. He made a mark at the 2014 edition of the Easter Festival and at the 2016 Aix Festival – “ the luminous flash of youth in the musical summer ” according to critic André Tubeuf. He is back in Aix tonight to conduct the Saint John Passion , the pillar of Bach's oeuvre that brings the refinement of the baroque art to its zenith.

Traditionally performed during Holy Week, the second of the two Passions blends the vocal delights of the singing solos with the telluric majesty of the choirs, going way beyond the contingencies of the evangelical narrative to touch something grandiose, human tragedy itself.