Germany was in South Africa this past weekend.
From Friday 25 May to Sunday 27 May, Soweto was filled with the baroque sounds of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St John Passion. Arranged by Umculo Opera Incubator, St John’s Passion visited Mokale Koapeng’s Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Zone 3 Meadowlands. It’s one of two works of Bach’s that focus on Jesus’ passion in the Bible. The other is St Matthew Passion.
This dramatised production of Bach’s extraordinary work was directed by world-renowned South African director Kobie van Rensburg and conducted by German conductor Felix Bender. The production featured community choirs including: 4Fourty Chamber Choir conducted by Siegfried Pretsch, Hillbrow Theatre Youth Choir, Meadowlands Seventh-day Adventist Church Choir conducted by Mokale Koapeng, and the Choir of Christ Church Arcadia conducted by George King.
The church was transformed into a huge stage and some of the action took place in the audience. While the whole production was staged in German, subtitles were projected on the huge screen in the hall for the audience to follow this remarkable story of Jesus’ passion according to the Gospel of John.
“It was in many ways a soul-stirring performance for me. Seeing the story of Jesus brought to life like that, in an oratorio written in the 18th century, yet remains so relevant today was quite moving” said one of the people in the audience.
Also published on Medium.