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Good Friday on WRTI: J.S. Bach's Powerful St. Matthew Passion and More

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Join us for our annual broadcast of Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion on Good Friday, April 15th from noon to 3 PM. This year we'll hear a 1999 recording from the Bach Collegium Japan conducted by Masaaki Suzuki featuring soloists Nancy Argenta, Robin Blaze, Gerd Türk, Makoto Sakurada, Peter Kooij, and Chiyuki Urano.

One of the supreme monuments in Western music, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion is a two-part masterpiece, composed in 1727, which recounts the last days of Christ.

Watch an excerpt from a 2019 performance of this sacred oratorio with Tafelmusik led by Suzuki, who is a noted Bach specialist.

Leading up to the St. Matthew Passion, we'll bring you a special Breakfast with Bach at 7:15 AM composed specifically for Holy Week, a Morning Meditation at 11 AM that's a traditional Maundy Thursday hymn by Maurice Durufle, and music for Easter by Richard Wagner and Antonio Lotti.

Happy Easter from all of your friends at WRTI.