Brockes Passion by Handel

The Scholars Baroque Aotearoa Chamber Choir and Opus Orchestra are delighted to bring the Brockes Passion to audiences in both Tauranga and Hamilton this June! This fabulous composition depicts the drama of the last days of Christ, through beautiful and familiar themes evoking classic German hymns.

Conductor: Chalium Poppy
Main soloists:
Iain Tetley - Evangelist
Aidan Phillips - Jesus
Jayne Tankersley - Daughter of Zion
Supporting soloists:
Jeandré Le Roux - Peter
Tamsyn Purén - Mary, Mother of Jesus
Henry Shum - Pilate and Centurion Guard
Tim Rogers - Judas Iscariot
Vince Shaw - Caiaphas, the High Priest

The Brockes Passion, whose text was set not only by George Frideric Handel, but by such composers as Keiser, Telemann, and Mattheson, played a decisive role at the beginning of the 18th Century in the theological debate as to whether sacred works using freely-written Passion texts could take the place of compositions employing strictly Biblical Passion texts. In this respect, performances of such works had a thoroughly demonstrative character.

Handel’s composition is based on a copy made by J. S. Bach. As opposed to the original form of the work, Bach’s copy displays several remarkable differences and thus presents a most informative document with regard to Bach’s examination of the music of his greatest contemporary, Handel.

Hamilton:
2:30PM | Sunday 25 June
Pre-concert talk beginning at 2pm
Concert at 2:30pm
Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts
Waikato University
Knighton Road
Hamilton 3240