08.04.2025

JULIAN PRÉGARDIEN sings the Evangelist with Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion

Julian Prégardien is one of the world's most sought-after interpreters of Johann Sebastian Bach's Evangelist roles. The tenor has already appeared in Bach's Passions with top orchestras such as the Ensemble Pygmalion, the Collegium Vocale Gent, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic. In 2022, he made his debut at New York's Carnegie Hall as the Evangelist in Bach's ‘St Matthew Passion’.

Julian Prégardien's textual conciseness and ability to bring together words and vocal line in the recitatives make him an outstanding Evangelist. He presents central passages of the Gospel very forcefully, but without the heroic gestures of a narrator who puts himself before the text.

During this year's Passiontide, Julian Prégardien can be heard as the Evangelist in Bach's St John Passion together with the Ensemble Pygmalion under the direction of Raphaël Pichon. It was indeed the St John Passion that made Raphaël Pichon realise that music was his vocation - at the time he was a member of the Versailles Boys' Choir. At the Vienna Konzerthaus, he brings Bach's highly dramatic work to life on the podium of his ensemble Pygmalion. 

Instrumentation:
Pygmalion, choir and orchestra
Julian Prégardien, Evangelist
Huw Montague Rendall, Christ
Ying Fang, soprano
Lucile Richardot, contralto
Laurence Kilsby, tenor
Christian Immler, baritone
Raphaël Pichon, conductor

Programme:
Johann Sebastian Bach: St John Passion BWV 245 (1724 before)