Mattheus Junior

J.S. Bach's Matthew Passion is one of the most beautiful choir piece ever composed. Bach composed it in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by the German poet Picander. It sets the 26th and 27th chapters of the Gospel of Matthew (in the Luther Bible) to music, with interspersed chorales and arias.

Mattheus Junior is a short theatrical adaptation of Bach’s Matthew Passion, with the aim to present the musical masterpiece to new audiences from the age of eight. Two actors will present the story and five solo singers, three instrumentalists, a choir and a conductor perform some of the most beautiful movements from the passion. 

Theatrical adaption is by Dutch director Albert Hoex, who also worked with the Icelandic team on this production.

The performance lasts for one hour.

A word about the performance from Albert Hoex, the director:

J.S. Bach's Matthew Passion is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever composed. Bach composed it in 1727 as an oratorium for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by the German poet Picander. It sets the 26th and 27th chapters of the Gospel of Matthew (in the Luther Bible) to music, with interspersed chorales and arias. 

Mattheus Ungi is a short theatrical adaptation of Bach’s Matthew Passion, with the aim to present the musical masterpiece to new audiences; young and older together, from eight to eighty eight. Two actors will present the story and five solo singers, three instrumentalists, a choir and a conductor perform the most beautiful movements from the passion. 

Mattheus Ungi (Matteus Junior) is first made and played in the Netherlands in 2017. The Netherlands have a great tradition in performing Bach's Mattheus Passion. Every year hundreds of performances are to be seen and listened to and every year thousands and thousands of spectators enjoy the music and the story. But there was no adaptation  for a younger and new audience. The main idea of the makers of the Matteus Junior was to create a possibility that new, young and older public together could enjoy this music and story. Both music and story are timeless and can be meaningful for a nowadays audience. By making a theatrical adaption the oratorium changed into an opera and therefore story and music got even more close to the public. Since 2017 Matteus Junior is performed with great success in several cities in the Netherlands and a new and young audience did discover this piece of art indeed.  

Guja Sandholt, director of the festival Operudagar and thanks to her singing study in the Netherlands a great lover of Bach's Mattheus Passion, invited the Matteus Junior to her festival with the aim to introduce this work to an Islandic audience. Thanks to this invitation Matteus Junior is now as Matteus Ungi for the first time to be seen and listened to outside the Netherlands: Reykjavik has the honour to be the first guest for this performance abroad. 

The performance lasts for one hour and ten minutes and there will be no intermission.

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