Tormented obbligato oboes surrounded mezzo-soprano Pamela Dellal’s aria about the paradoxes of sin and redemption (“Von den Stricken meiner Sünden” — “From the knots of my sins”). Gently flowing flutes (Jacqueline DeVoe and Peggy Freidland) helped liberate nightingale-voiced soprano Kristen Watson in her aria about following Jesus with happy steps. Michael Sponseller’s organ mirrored bass Sumner Thompson’s rushing us to Golgotha. Laura Jeppesen’s gamba consoled mezzo-soprano Krista River’s depiction of the crucifixion; Raphael Popper-Kaizer’s cello reflected Aaron Engebreth’s poignant questioning of whether the crucifixion has freed him from death; and flute, oboe, and organ wept along with soprano Kendra Colton’s “Zerfließe, mein Herz” (“Dissolve, my heart”). Sweet and/or powerful arias came from tenors Frank Kelley and Jason McStoots and bass Mark McSweeney, and there was eloquent accompaniment by Olav Chris Henriksen (lute) and the entire orchestra.
Before the conventional final chorale comes the great chorus “Ruht wohl” (“Rest well”), a prayer both to and for the crucified Jesus — a moment of the calmest serenity, really a lullaby, and the true resolution of this Passion. This was what Bach was leading to, the most cherishable moment in the St. John Passion and, for us, the moment to cherish most.
Related:
Is there a pianist in the house?, Erwartung . . ., From Knoxville to Swan Lake and back, More 
- Is there a pianist in the house?
Moved and excited by pianist Leon Fleisher in Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Boston Symphony, I wanted to hear it again.
- Erwartung . . .
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA music director James Levine will be back in February to continue his survey of Beethoven and Schoenberg with Metropolitan Opera diva Deborah Voigt in Beethoven’s “Ah! perfido” and Schoenberg’s Erwartung (“Awaiting”), along with Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and Eighth Symphony (Symphony Hall, February 1-3).
- From Knoxville to Swan Lake and back
As our most prestigious classical-music institution, the Boston Symphony Orchestra ought to be every year’s headliner, and once again, under the adventuresome direction of James Levine, it is.
- Transfigured nights
James Levine and the BSO resumed their Beethoven/Schoenberg series with superb performances of two pieces at the opposite ends of the Schoenberg spectrum.
- The best of times, the worst of times
This year Boston classical music lost some of its most beloved figures — some, like mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, at the very height of their extraordinary powers, others, like opera director Sarah Caldwell and her conductor/collaborator, Osbourne McConathy, after long and gratifying runs.
- Anticipation
James Levine was back in front of the BSO after his Christmas break, and as good as at least one of the guest conductors.
- Mixed blessings
The Boston Symphony Orchestra began the new year with one of its most disappointing concerts since music director James Levine took over.
- Classical giants
Audiences love the Beethoven Seventh. And this audience went bananas. But I didn’t.
- Variety show
James Levine completed his second season as the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s music director with another riveting though not-quite polished evening of Schoenberg and Beethoven.
- Amazing weekend
James Levine’s opening salvo for his year-long Beethoven/Schoenberg series with the Boston Symphony Orchestra couldn’t have been more ambitious: the work that opened Symphony Hall in 1900.
- Expressions of war
One of the best string quartets in the world will be within a D-string's distance from Portland, come Monday night.
- Less
Topics:
Classical
, Entertainment, Music, Karlheinz Stockhausen, More
, Entertainment, Music, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Oliver Knussen, Charles Blandy, Katherine Chi, Maurice Sendak, Aaron Engebreth, Jacqueline DeVoe, Paul Guttry, Less
