In November 2018, Rayfield Allied artists Nicholas Mulroy, Nick Pritchard and Matthew Brook performed Bach’s St John Passion with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and were warmly received by critics and audiences alike.
Conducted by Jonathan Cohen, the outstanding team of Rayfield Allied soloists captivated at the Cathedral of St Paul and Ordway Concert Hall, with the Star Tribune hailing the performance as “one of the most satisfying you could hope to hear”.
Nicholas Mulroy, who returns to the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra after the success of his last performance of St Matthew Passion with the ensemble in 2015, was praised highly this year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune for his “outstandingly sensitive” narration and the “riveting immediacy” of his storytelling in his performance of Evangelist. Described as “the most sought-after Evangelist of his generation”, notable performances of the role include with the Handel and Haydn Society at Boston Symphony Hall, with the Dunedin Consort at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, and at Easter at King’s College Cambridge.
Matthew Brook, who also sang the St Matthew Passion in 2015 with SPCO, has been greatly commended for bringing “gravitas and dignity” to the role of Jesus, “with sonorous tone and immaculately clear diction”. He “brought a booming bass voice to Jesus that most impressed when he gently soared to the top of his register as death approached”. Brook previously sang the role also at the BBC Proms last year, and with the Handel and Haydn Society, with whom he frequently performs.
Nick Pritchard, acclaimed for “performing with heartfelt intelligence and commitment” by the Star Tribune, has recently sung the tenor arias with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under John Butt, and the role of the Evangelist with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Stephen Layton, and in New York with the Choir of New College, Oxford.
