On Saturday night, renowned choral conductor Stephen Layton led a scaled down Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, five soloists and a full MSO choir through a nuanced rendition of the last days of Christ.

From a quiet start, he led the strings and oboe through the hauntingly discordant opening to a gradual build up, culminating in an explosive “Herr!” (Lord) from an impassioned Chorus.

From its impactful opening, the Chorus made it clear it was not singing by numbers. Somehow Layton managed to instil in all the performers a profound sense of Bach’s faith, and this was reflected en masse in the choir and individually in each soloist.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus perform the St John Passion. Photo © Nico Keenan

Tenor Ruairi Bowen handled the narrating role of the Evangelist with the requisite emotion demanded by the text. He entered and departed the stage as the role required, adding a performative layer reinforced by facial expression and body language. This approach was evident in all the onstage performances, a deliberate artistic choice that imbued what was already highly charged text with a quietly dramatic delivery.

In this pared down production, both he and...