Just in time for Easter we are presented with something quite remarkable. A fully new realization, in the Baroque style, based on the original Picander (Christian Friedrich Henrichi) text of the St. Mark Passion, composed by Nikolaus Matthes (b. 1981). No, that is not a typo. According to the press release, "Nikolaus Matthes, born in 1981, used the venerable Picander text to create an oratorio in the baroque style. About 60 performers inaugurated this extensive, inspired and inspiring work during Passiontide 2023 - exactly three hundred years after the first year of Bach's tenure in Leipzig." It seems that the original music from 1731 had disappeared, and that any scholarly reconstruction attempts for its revival didn't quite hit the mark.

Now, aside from some non-period harmonic shifts here and there, it sounds exactly as if you had time traveled back 300 years. The sound of the orchestra, which includes period instruments like recorders, viola da gamba, harpsichord, organ and baroque guitar, sounds truly authentic. The main soloists which include Daniel Johannsen (Evangelist), Daniel Perez (Jesus), Maya Boog (Soprano), Annekathrin Laabs (Alto), Daniel Johannsen and Georg Poplutz (Tenors) and Matthias Helm (Baritone) are all firmly and proficiently nestled in baroque character, and the seventeen voice choir sounds surprisingly rich and robust.

The presentation and packaging are spotless. The three CDs sit in their own book-style cardboard jacket, and the text and production notes are contained in a high-quality 175 page hardcover book, which includes a slew of apropos images and photographs. All of which is encased in a large hard-cardboard sleeve, all of it presented in a vibrant color scheme. And best of all, the audio engineering is superb ... close but with the acoustic feel of a large cathedral.

Seriously, if the age of the composer was unbeknownst to me, I would swear I'm listening to an oratorio written by a composer born in 1681 rather than 1981. Indulge your ears this Lenten season with this consummate modern day achievement. For more information please follow this link to markuspassion.org.