I was fortunate to attend another remarkable boundary-blurring performance recently: the world premiere of the long-lost “Markus Passion” by Bach. A joint-effort by Chatham Baroque, Renaissance Baroque, The Sebastians, and Joseph Marcell — based on archival interpretations and recreations of a vanished manuscript from the Bach corpus — the performance of this fusion of libretto, music, and narration was both fresh and stunning, reminiscent of how the innovative staging of “Jesus Christ Superstar” enthralled audiences in the 1970s.
Utilizing a classically trained actor as the narrator, with four singers and a baroque chamber orchestra, the production was part play, and part music, such that the vocal performers, as well as three of the instrumental soloists, interacted with each other, as when, for example, the flutist left her chair and joined the actors during her solo . . . morphing from instrumentalist to a character while she played.
This is a rare form of theater that feels as close to the ancient Greeks as it does to Modernism. We can only eagerly await the next offering from this inventive company and its many affiliate artists.
For further information: www.chathambaroque.org
Stuart Sheppard is an award-winning critic, essayist, novelist, and poet who writes “The Hamlet Machine” column for Pittsburgh Quarterly. Follow him: @HamletsMachine.
