Conducted by George Gregory Hobbs, the Highland Park Chorale and Orchestra perform Bach's St. Matthew Passion at Moody Performance Hall in Dallas, Saturday, March 11, 2023.J.S. Bach never composed an opera. But, while never intended for staging, his St. Matthew and St. John passions are as dramatic as anything by Verdi or Puccini.
. Those concerts have demonstrated how fastidiously Bach balances voices and instruments in textures sometimes quite complex.Balances are trickier to manage with modern instruments, but there’s still room for such performances. On Saturday afternoon, at Moody Performance Hall, the St. Matthew Passion was presented by the Highland Park Chorale and orchestra, with boys from the choir of St. Mark’s School of Texas.
Hobbs kept the performance mostly vivid and mobile, and mostly well sung and played. And there was considerable evidence of current ideas on baroque performance practice: buoyant rhythms, variegated legato, sparing string vibrato. Stephen Soph, a University of North Texas alum, has made something of a national specialty of the Evangelist’s part. His keen tenor narrated the events of Jesus’ last hours in tones alternately amazed, anxious and horrified. David Grogan was a noble Jesus, with a rich and expressive baritone and clarion top notes.