Chicago Classical Review

The Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra and Apollo Chorus provided a timely space for introspection and spiritual refreshment in this Lenten season with Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.

Stephen Alltop, music director of both ensembles, conducted  the nearly 3-1/2-hour performance Sunday at the 165-year-old Church of the Holy Family on the near west side.

Composed for Holy Week in 1727, theSt. Matthew Passion is, arguably, Bach’s greatest achievement. The sacred oratorio is cast on an epic scale, calling for soloists,  double choruses and  even double orchestras. 

Alltop led a passionate, purposeful interpretation that brought the oratorio’s Lenten resonances to the forefront. He balanced emotional depth with precise tempi, moving fluently through the aria, chorale and recitatives with narrative precision.

Most impressive among the soloists was tenor Steven Soph as the Evangelist, singing from the cathedral’s pulpit and maintaining clear tone and projection throughout his taxing narrative role. Soph’s rendition of “Und siehe da, der Vorhang im Tempel zeriß i” dramatically rendered the force of the temple curtain tearing in two. 

Bass Andrew Garratt’s performance of the bass aria “Mache dich, mein Herze, rein,” presented a heartfelt Lenten prayer.

The other soloists, Evan Bravos as Jesus, mezzo Sarah Ponder, and tenor Brian Skoog blended well with the orchestra and presented captivating illuminations of Bach’s score.

In two movements, the ensembles were joined by the Spirito Singers, a female youth choir that sang with brilliant tone and brought an exhilarating energy to the performance, a reminder that Bach’s music engages musicians of all generations.

The Apollo Chorus’s chorale movements brought crystalline, at times spine-chilling beauty in “Ich bin’s, ich sollte büßen” and “Befiehl du deine Wege,” displaying a crisp choral tone with clear diction and a rich ensemble sound. The chorus took on small roles in the oratorio, and Joe Schater’s Judas and Warnell Berry’s Pilatus both supplied commendable characterization and Baroque style.

Precision occasionally faltered with the Apollo singers split into two separate chorus, possibly due to the stage placement  with both choruses facing behind Alltop. Yet in the final movement, “Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder,” Alltop turned to face the chorus for an extended period of time, resulting in a brilliantly precise ensemble mourning Christ’s death.

The Elmhurst Symphony shone throughout, with especially graceful playing  from the flute and oboe in obbligato solos.

The flute in “Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben” perfectly complemented soprano Josefien Stoppelenburg in a moving duet of Christ’s love. Katherine Shuldiner’s solo on the viola da gamba in the second part also stood out for its warm lyricism.

Bach’s oratorio, as Alltop’s program notes state, originally would have been “couched in a Good Friday service that would have taken much of the day as it included scripture, additional music, and a lengthy sermon.” 

Alltop maintained a historical embellishment by ending the piece with a small choir’s a cappella rendition of Gallus’s Ecce quomodo moritur iustus, a perfectly paced, meditative finale. 

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