LONDON, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Rattle, Queen Elizabeth HallMonday June 3, 2002 Rattle's tempos were often thoughtful rather than consistently dynamic, and he saved his trademark drive for the moments when the chorus were whipped up into a frenzied mob. He applied himself to moulding the music subtly into shape, starting with the disquieting waves created beneath the surface of the opening chorus. But although the performance was thoughtful, it did not lack pace. The rare pauses carried weight and meaning, and during Peter's denial the accusations flew back and forth across the platform. The recitatives were handled superbly by the organist Emmanuelle Haïm (herself a rising star conductor) and cellist Richard Tunnicliffe. Ian Bostridge, as the Evangelist, was, as ever, a consummate storyteller, colouring the narration with a pliant, sensual tone, mouthing along to the chorales and - with a refreshing lack of self-importance - turning pages for Haïm. Sharing the stage was Britain's other great Evangelist, Mark Padmore, here singing the tenor arias. He had less of a chance to put his personal stamp on the work, but his second aria blossomed to form an intensely involving episode. Arias from the countertenor Michael Chance and soprano Rosemary Joshua were just as compelling. The only oddity was that there was only one bass soloist - meaning that (with interjections from the Evangelist) we had Jesus (David Wilson-Johnson, glancing left) conversing with Pilate (Wilson-Johnson, with a quick look to the right). Still, he made an expressive Christ. What really stood out was the focus he brought to Pilate, timing moments such as "Was ist Wahrheit?" ("What is truth?") perfectly, and making the governor a more intriguing character than Jesus himself. Though generally a little too masked by
the orchestra, the chorus had power when it was really called for. They kept something in reserve for the
end, ensuring that the final chorale was no anticlimax, but rather the culmination of a work that, at any
time of year, can be a real spiritual experience. Erica Jeal
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