St John Passion

Classical series

5. April 2024 at 19:30

- Few tickets left

Classical series

Friday 5. April 2024 at 19:30

- Few tickets left

Fartein Valen, Stavanger konserthus

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach: St John's Passion

Contributors

Masato Suzuki, conductor
Nick Pritchard, Evangelist
Christina Landshamer, soprano
Marianne Beate Kielland, alto
Matthias Helm, bass
William Wallace, tenor
Stavanger Symphony Choir
Valen Vocal Ensemble
Kateryna Ustyantseva, choir conductor

Masato Suzuki

Conductor

A multifaceted musician, Masato Suzuki appears on the concert platform in the capacity of conductor, composer and keyboard player.

As Principal Conductor of Bach Collegium Japan, Suzuki made his subscription series conducting debut with the ensemble directing Bach’s St John Passion and Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea; on tour, he has taken them to the Thüringen Bachwochen and last season to the Varazdin Baroque Festival.

Suzuki works with orchestras including the Japan Philharmonic, Sendai Philharmonic and Tokyo Philharmonic, as well as the Hiroshima Symphony, Ensemble Kanazawa and Kyushu Symphony Orchestras. His repertoire is varied with many programmes featuring contrasting composers including works by Bach, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Rameau, Stravinsky and Takemitsu.

Suzuki studied Composition and Early Music at the Tokyo University for Fine Arts and Music before studying Organ and Improvisation at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.
Nick Pritchard

Soloist

Tenor Nick Pritchard is gaining fast recognition for his performances of the music of Bach and in particular his interpretation of the Evangelist in the Passions. Described as a ‘Masterly Evangelist’ in The Guardian, he has sung the role in Bach’s St John and Matthew Passions around the world and his recording of the St John Passion (Evangelist) for Deutsche Grammophon with Sir John Elliot Gardiner was nominated for a Grammy Award for best Choral Performance (2023). Recent performances of the piece include those with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra at the Concertgebouw under Jonathan Cohen, for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Polyphony and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra.

On the concert platform he has performed with Ensemble Pygmalion, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Gabrieli Consort, and he made his BBC Proms debut with Britten Sinfonia under David Bates performing Mozart’s Requiem. He has performed under conductors including Harry Bicket, John Butt, Laurence Cummings, Jonathan Cohen, Christian Curnyn, Maxim Emelyanychev, Adam Fischer, Emmanuelle Haïm, Simon Halsey, George Petrou, Raphaël Pichon, Christophe Rousset, Sir András Schiff and Ryan Wigglesworth.
Christina Landshamer

Soloist

German soprano Christina Landshamer graduated from Munich’s and Stuttgart’s universities for music and performing arts. She is a versatile and internationally in-demand concert, opera, and recital singer.

Her work with conductors such as Daniel Harding, Alan Gilbert, Sir Roger Norrington, Marek Janowski, Christian Thielemann and Riccardo Chailly has taken her to Europe’s most distinguished orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, the SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, the Munich and Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome, and the Swedish Radio Orchestra Stockholm.
Marianne Beate Kielland

Soloist

Mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland is famous for her strong stage presence and musical integrity. Gramophone Magazine writes about her: “The mezzo-soprano is quite outstanding: strong, firm, sensitive in modulations, imaginative in her treatment of words, with a voice pure in quality, wide in range and unfalteringly true in intonation.”

She is educated from Norwegian Academy of Music, where she studied with Svein Bjørkøy. She has also studied with Oren Brown and Barbara Bonney.

She is one of Europe’s foremost concert singers, and she regularly appears in the concert halls of Europe, Japan and America with conductors such as: Masaaki Suzuki, Andrew Manze, Michel Corboz, Leonardo Alarcon, Herbert Blomstedt, Jordi Savall, Rinaldo Alessandrini and René Jacobs.

Marianne Beate Kielland is the artistic leader of Oslo Chamber Music Festival and is also part time associate professor at Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.
Matthias Helm

Soloist

Matthias Helm studied solo singing with Rotraud Hansmann and successfully completed “Lied and Oratorio” with Robert Holl at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In addition he attended master classes with Margreet Honig and Wolfgang Holzmair and Hartmut Höll.

As a concert singer, Matthias Helm is well-known for his performances of great oratorios and passions by J.S. Bach, G.F. Händel, F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, F. Martin, P. Hindemith eg., which also makes him a highly recognized guest at various festivals, for instance Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Boston Early Music Festival, styriarte, Bachfest Leipzig, Bachwochen Ansbach as well as in
concert halls like Konzerthaus Wien, Musikverein Wien, Theater an der Wien, Wigmore Hall, Teatro
Monumental Madrid or Philharmonie Luxemburg. On his tours Matthias Helm has travelled throughout Europe. He also visited the USA, Canada,
William Wallace

Soloist

William Wallace, winner of the 2016 London Handel Singing Competition, graduated from the National Opera Studio and the Royal College of Music. William has worked with eminent conductors including Laurence Cummings, William Christie, Jorg Straube, Anthony Negus, Brian Kay and Julian Perkins.

William’s extensive oratorio and concert repertory includes Mozart’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle, Handel’s Messiah, Joseph and His Brethren, Esther, Theodora, Judas Maccabeus, Acis and Galatea, Haydn’s Creation, Nelson Mass and Harmoniemesse, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noel and Bach’s Cantatas, Magnificat and Passions (as Evangelist and tenor soloist). He has made two appearances on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune singing Handel and Britten, and also as soloist in Messiah in the Albert Hall and at St George’s Hanover Square for the London Handel Society.

William lives in Oslo, Norway and has already established cooperations with several Norwegian orchestras and institutions. In 2022 he sang Evangelist in St John’s Passion with Oslo Domkor.
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