Jonathan Miller's production of Bach's colossal St Matthew Passion is lucid, dignified and satisfyingly fresh.
Written in the 1720s and revised in the following decade, it is an act of worship rather than an opera, a work of grave seriousness that examines the final week in the life of Christ. With its two choirs and two orchestras, it strikes a tone of commanding and sublime loftiness yet also suggests a more studious kind of devotion, as well as intense piety and contemplative expansiveness.
This isn't exactly a full staging. There are few props and no sets, and the performers are casually dressed. It's not assertively modern either, instead lifting the music out of any particular time and focusing us on its technical and emotional force. There are carefully measured interactions between the orchestral players and the singers, which deepen the drama. But the approach to dramatising scenes is restrained. Nothing is superfluous, and the action on stage, which avoids literal-minded gestures, seems to grow organically from the text.
The chorus produces an expressive and convincingly knitted sound - especially tender in the chorales. And the young members of the South Bank Sinfonia play with conviction, conducted alertly by Paul Goodwin, who has also compiled and edited a crisp English translation.
The Passion is defined by its sheer range - of key and volume, genre and resonance. For all its complexity and detail, it has a remarkable unity. But there are moments in which the individuality of the characters and their vocal personalities unfurl revealingly.
Hadleigh Adams as Jesus is both physically and vocally sinewy, conveying the bruised majesty of his suffering. Soprano Ruby Hughes is poised, while mezzo-soprano Sally Bruce-Payne combines clarity and a sense of drama, and there's cogent work from James Laing, Mark Stone and Benjamin Hulett.
The most arresting performance, though, comes from Andrew Staples as the Evangelist. He is a guiding narrative presence, as the role demands, and his warm, fluid tenor voice is eloquent and intimate.
George Bernard Shaw once described a production of the St Matthew Passion as "trudging"; its stolid solemnity obliterated the poignancy of Bach's melodies. Miller and Goodwin manage the opposite, tactfully pointing up the excellence of this inspiring and elaborate devotional piece.
Until October 2 (020 7452 3000; nationaltheatre.org.uk)
St Matthew Passion
National Theatre, Olivier
