Ahead of his performance as Evangelist in our next St Matthew Passion performance, we caught up with Toby Spence about what the St Matthew Passion means to him and what he listens to outside of his usual concert repertoire.
1. You’ve sung the Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion many times. Is there anything about the piece that still moves or stirs you when you return to it?
Many things about the St Matthew Passion move me whenever I come to it. The scale of the work; its architecture; its layered concept, involving the listener and allowing them time to contemplate its message as it unfolds. Bach’s exquisite arias that reflect on the action without being literal or obvious. The way Bach incorporates the chorus as witness, crowd and liturgy. It is perfection on the grandest scale.
2. Are there any musical passages in the piece that the Evangelist doesn’t sing in, but that you personally would particularly enjoy singing?
The baritone arias seem to me to be the most poignant. The last aria, Mache dich mein Herze rein (Make me clean, my heart, from sin), is balm for the soul, enabling us to hear and feel the meaning of redemption and forgiveness.
3. We perform the work in English, which allows our audience to follow every word. Does singing the Passion in English change the way you think about communicating the story?
For many years, I have performed opera in English at ENO. It enables me to have a direct connection as I think and sing the text. I always say the instrument of the singer is language, so to sing SMP in English is to perform it with my principal instrument. In recent years I have been working to improve my German and I am beginning to feel the same relationship to the original text as I do to the English version.
4. What do you hope listeners take away — or feel — after our performance on Sunday 8 March?
Everyone will take their own personal experience away with them. Some will be come to witness the Christian message of redemption through faith and to experience the last hours that led up to the Crucifixion, as told by St Matthew and Bach as librettist and composer. Some will come because they love the music. I hope everyone will be moved and recognise the hope and healing offered to us through communing with beautiful music.
5. What do you listen to outside of your typical concert and opera repertoire?
I have very broad taste in music. Today I was listening to a piece of electronic music by Eliane Radigue called Jetsun Mila. It is a slow, abstract piece that brings to mind a desert panorama. I am as likely to listen to Taylor Swift as I am Igor Stravinsky.
6. This year is our 150th anniversary at The Bach Choir. You’ve sung with us many times! Do you have any particularly special memories of singing with The Bach Choir?
The first time I sang The Dream of Gerontius was with The Bach Choir back in 2009. I will always cherish the memory of that sunny June day in Winchester.
7. What is coming up next for you in terms of concerts, performances and recordings?
I have a handful of St Matthew Passions, followed by Puccini’s Stabat Mater and then Eugene Onegin for Grange Park Opera.