On Saturday 6 at 5 p.m. and Sunday 7 December 2025 at 3:30 p.m., the magnificent Matthäus-Passion, the immense masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach, will be performed.

On the podium, leading the Orchestra, the Chorus, and the Children’s Choir of the Accademia del Maggio, will be conductor Kent Nagano. The production is signed by Romeo Castellucci.
A production of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

Florence, 5 December 2025 – On Saturday 6 at 5 p.m. and Sunday 7 December 2025 at 3:30 p.m., the magnificent Matthäus-Passion, the immense masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach—an oratorio composed in 1727 and never performed during the Maggio’s seasons—will go on stage. On the podium of the Main Hall, at the head of the Orchestra, the Chorus, and the Children’s Choir of the Accademia del Maggio, will be maestro Kent Nagano, making his debut at the Theatre. The staging, based on the 2016 Hamburg production, is conceived—direction, costumes, and lighting—by Romeo Castellucci, also making his debut at the Maggio. Dramaturgy is by Piersandra Di Matteo.

The cast features Ian Bostridge—returning after the success of last spring’s War Requiem—as the Evangelist; Anna El-Khashem, making her debut at the Maggio, as First Soprano; Suji Kwon, returning after last summer’s Aida, as Second Soprano; Iurii Iushkevich as the Alto; Krystian Adam as the Tenor; and Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Jesus. Completing the cast as First and Second Bass are Thomas Tatzl and Gonzalo Godoy Sepúlveda, respectively.

In the production, we find ourselves “transported” into an almost aseptic space, where the stage and all who inhabit it are dominated by a bright, dazzling white that embraces everything: the floor, the draped walls, and even the costumes of the musicians. Castellucci, in his interpretation, seeks an encounter between the transcendence of the biblical narrative (on which Bach’s oratorio is founded) and the experiences of life and death evoked through his personal vision of the staging.

As pure objects of contemplation, a series of elements appear one after another, without any technical devices. The director—well established on several European stages with many theatre and sacred opera productions—designs not only the staging but also the set, the costumes, and the lights. His work naturally incorporates theatrical elements but comes close to those typical of a true “visual installation.”

In this entirely white space, the orchestra is dressed in simple, equally white attire. The chorus and soloists are positioned close to it in a linear arrangement where the only stroke of colour is represented by the singer portraying the Evangelist, who wears a blue scarf. The actions are accompanied by objects that may at first seem unusual or anomalous to the audience and, when imagined within this sacred context, almost inappropriate.

Some of these relate to the text, such as a bust of Emperor Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus in Station I, “Imperium,” or in Station IV, “Cena,” where the plates from the last meal of people who lived in Florence have been collected; in other cases, a real connection between object and text is not evident—for example, during the enactment of Station V, “Ecclesia,” when an old bus is dragged onto the stage, lying on its side.

Throughout the performance, the actions carried out by the artists are minimal: all human participants in the performance space—whether engaged in specific actions or involved in assembling and dismantling objects and installations—act with the utmost restraint in gesture and expression. They seem to avoid any visible human expression of pain, suffering, compassion, or other emotional states. The spectator is left entirely to their own subjective perception and interpretation of what unfolds before their eyes. However, to assist the audience with orientation, a small booklet is distributed illustrating all the stations in sequence with their structure.

The work

Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for the Lutheran Holy Week service, the Matthäus-Passion (St. Matthew Passion), BWV 244, fell into oblivion after the composer’s death. A little more than a century later, it was Felix Mendelssohn who revived it, performing it in concert in Berlin on 11 March 1829, thus restoring to humanity that immense Bach masterpiece now considered a musical icon of the Christian confession. The Matthäus-Passion is striking both for its colossal architecture—calling for soloists, a double choir, and a double orchestra—and for the expressive power of its musical language.

The text, prepared by Picander (the pseudonym of poet Christian Friedrich Henrici), includes a large number of characters. To the principal roles of Jesus, the Evangelist (who narrates), Peter, Pilate, and the handmaiden are added other figures such as Judas, Pilate’s wife, Joseph of Arimathea, the Daughter of Zion, handmaidens, witnesses, soldiers—made possible thanks to the use of the double choir. The backbone of the work, structured in two large parts, is formed by the chorales, which Bach uses according to precise expressive intentions.

Arias and ariosi—moments of meditation and contrition—stand in contrast to the anguished narration of the recitatives, where the human component of Christ’s passion is emphasised, depicted in all his human suffering.