Fragments in search of form

Semi-staged performances can be a risky proposition; the concert hall setting enforces a certain minimalism that makes it almost impossible to capture the theatrical spectacle of an actual production, while the demands of physical action can easily compromise the musical focus that make straightforward concert performances so attractive. Yet in April of 2010, the Berlin Philharmonic scored an unlikely success with a semi-staged version of Bach’s Matthäus-Passion directed by Peter Sellars, a director for whom enforced minimalism is virtually a precondition of drama. The result of this unusual collaboration was an event of surprising dramatic force that, through its presiding austerity and deliberate pace, achieved the feel of a modern ritual.

Indeed the Matthäus-Passion was so well received that it spawned a sequel - an equally compelling…