St John Passion

Johann Sebastian Bach’s St John Passion is a moving oratorio about the suffering and death of Jesus. More than 300 years after its premiere in Leipzig, it still moves us deeply, with its vivid musicality, subdued chorales and meditative arias. Reinoud Van Mechelen has a particularly long history with Bach’s music, and in particular with the Passions, for which he sang the choral parts even as a child. Having performed the role of the Evangelist in both Passions on numerous occasions, under the baton of conductors like Philippe Herreweghe, William Christie and Simon Rattle, he presented his own version of the St John Passion for the first time in 2024 with a nocte temporis. This production was invited to the Festival International of Opéra Baroque de Beaune in the summer of 2025, where the ensemble and its artistic director made a strong impression and received rave reviews, including from Le Figaro and Forum Opera.