Mache Dich, Mein Herze, Rein

Happy Easter! The Lord is risen indeed! It's been a lovely Easter for me today. I’m visiting my dear family in Maryland. We went to church this morning and sang “Thine be the Glory.” Then we had dinner at the home of my friend Liz’s parents.

But let me backtrack into Lent a little. Last week Thursday I had the pleasure of attending St Matthews Passion at Lincoln Center in NYC. I went with my friend David who could get student rate tickets. We had good seats very near the front. I had never attended a full live performance of St Matthews Passion. That’s quite remarkable considering that I spent an entire semester studying it intensely when I was at St John’s College. In some ways, seeing the performance was like reliving that semester all over again. Every aria and chorus had its memory.

The New York Philharmonic performed under the direction of Kurt Masur. He’s very famous so I had been looking forward to seeing him. hmmm… I read in the program that he’s 80 and he definitely looked it. I think he may have Parkinsons. His hands trembled the whole concert. Masur also bears a disturbing resemblance to the late Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (in the last few years of his life when he was getting really, really old).

The concert hall thinned out noticeably in the second half. David says that’s because many wealthy New Yorkers have season tickets. They come for the first halves of concerts to “see and be seen” and then leave at the intermission (presumably to go back to work…)

St. Matthews Passion is very long. About 3 and a half hours. The highlight, for me, came near the end with the aria: “Mache Dich, Mein Herze, Rein.” So beautiful!!!

I also particularly enjoyed the oboe d’amore. The evangelist was extremely good. You don’t usually think of the person who sings the evangelist as being “good,” but I really enjoyed his performance. I read in the program that he specializes in singing evangelist roles in Bach cantatas.

It’s strange, though, I was reflecting the next day that I didn’t feel like I’d truly “connected” with the music. I was seeing St Matthews Passion performed by some of the best musicians in the world in a renowned venue. But it did not move me as profoundly as when I was just sitting on my bed in my college dorm listening with headphones.

Regardless, it was a fantastic experience. I’m so glad I could go. The end of the night was not so hot, though. I missed the last bus from the subway to my house. So I had to walk the streets of Brooklyn at 12:30am. oh well. I lived to blog another day. Again, happy Easter to you all!