Bach’s tone painting of the final days of Christ, in the St Matthew Passion, is filled with love, moving, exciting and full of opera-like drama.

The beautiful opening chorus, the intense chorale O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden, the soprano aria Blute nur, du liebes Herz, the bass aria Mache dich, mein Herze, rein and Christ’s desperate final cry ‘Eli, Eli, lama asabthani’ will bring even the most convinced unbeliever to rapture. There are countless reasons why so many people follow the tradition of attending a performance of the St Matthew Passion each year…