Since 1922, the Netherlands Bach Society has performed the St Matthew Passion every year. This year, renowned Baroque conductor and close friend of the Bach Society, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, continues the tradition.

Betrayal, condemnation, death, and unconditional love. It is all in Bach’s St Matthew Passion. The piece combines the most horrific and the most beautiful, and continues to amaze and move you, whether you are religious or not. Lars Ulrik Mortensen: “In the St Matthew Passion, Bach used religious texts. I have often wondered if I am allowed to conduct Bach’s religious works as a non-believer, but I think that the deeper meaning of words, whether they come from the Bible or from a poem, is universal. Just as the feelings that texts evoke are universal. Bach writes with craftsmanship, with both feet on the ground; he understands all things human, all our emotions, like no other. At the same time, he has created music that is absolutely divine. But to which you can always relate through the recognition of the human aspect.”