“Standing ovations at the end of a Passion oratorio performance: that’s a rare occurrence. But the performance of Nikolaus Matthes’s St. Mark Passion on Saturday in the Church of St. Jacobi had the audience leaping to their feet.”
Göttinger Tageblatt
Michael Schäfer, March 9, 2026
“That must be by Bach – Matthes has composed a St. Mark Passion that the Master himself seems to have penned; {…} bold, well-crafted in a style we are conversant with, and worth hearing.”
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Reinhard J. Brembeck, March 28 / 29, 2024
“In respectful accord with Bach’s musical language {…} a deeply serious undertaking, bereft of vanity {…} unceasingly dedicated to the spirit and tradition of the baroque Passions.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Werner M. Grimmel, April 7 / 8, 2024
“A baroque work of today {…} it sounds as if Nikolaus Matthes had been an apprentice to Bach himself.”
Radio NDR Kultur – “Das Konzert”
Franziska von Busse, Good Friday, March 29, 2024
“The most intriguing new Passion recording this year {…}, so baroque – but it was actually created in the last couple of years {…}. I found this surprisingly effective, especially in a performance as committed as this. {…} A brand new St. Mark Passion that often feels as old as Bach, but simultaneously fresh and vital.”
RADIO BBC 3 – Record Review
Andrew McGregor, March 30, 2024
“{…} in the ‘fast lane’, leaving behind all musicological reconstruction attempts {…}, an oratory about which one may say: ‘et re-incarnatus est . . . ’ ”
Pro Classics
Dr. Eckhardt van den Hoogen, February 2024
“Matthes has composed a St. Mark Passion in the style of Johann Sebastian Bach, based on Picander’s text – and it sounds so Bach-like that one might think Matthes is a chameleon who, when encountering Bach, is able to adapt his skin perfectly to his counterpart.”
Göttinger Kammermusikgesellschaft e. V., Novellette no. 299
Michael Schäfer, February 18, 2026
“One ear in the Baroque, one in the present.”
Musik Basel
Kathrin Signer, April 10, 2024
“One takeaway is the thought of what Matthes would be like conducting the St. Matthew and St. John Bach originals?”
Fanfare Magazine
Colin Clarke, May 1, 2024
“Matthes proves himself as able a conductor as he is a composer. {…} Urgently, emphatically recommended.”
Fanfare Magazine
James A. Altena, May 26, 2024
“The Matthes St. Mark Passion triumphs as ‘a contemporary work written in the baroque style.’ It also is a gripping musical and dramatic experience, one that proceeds with arresting momentum. All credit is due to the superb team of Baroque vocalists and instrumentalists Matthes assembled and conducted in the performances and recording of his St. Mark Passion. {…} The recording is first-rate, as is the packaging. {…} This is a quite remarkable and endlessly fascinating achievement.”
Fanfare Magazine
Ken Meltzer, May 26, 2024
“What Nikolaus Matthes has achieved in this work is nothing short of breathtaking, and he has given music lovers a great gift in writing it. As a Christian, I found this work not only a magnificent musical experience, but also a profoundly moving opportunity for worship. I trust that sooner rather than later this work will receive the wide performance it deserves.”
Fanfare Magazine
David DeBoor Canfield, autumn 2024
“Well aware that extraordinarily competent professionals stood and sat before him, Matthes gave leave to his ensemble to play, make music, sing, interact, lose themselves in the music, group and regroup, perform to the utmost of their capability. Here nothing was suppressed: as the last chord of each number died away, the conductor’s gesture was carried to its conclusion. The remarkable, intangibly transcendental quality of this music may have something to do with the way it was conducted: we proceed through this Passion together, discovering it and letting it sound. To realize such a complex score so logically, gently (I would almost like to say, “lovingly”), and energetically is a high art, something that cannot be extracted from the ensemble, but only allowed to grow and prosper. Nikolaus Matthes must be a human being who leaves nothing to chance in composing, planning, preparing, and choosing his colleagues – and who exactly by virtue of all this is capable of letting go at the crucial moment, of allowing the music to arise, of even seemingly perceiving the audience, of working with the resonance of the present space.”
Pius Strassmann, Luzern
April 7, 2023
“Standing ovations at the end of a Passion oratorio performance: that’s a rare occurrence. But the performance of Nikolaus Matthes’s St. Mark Passion on Saturday in the Church of St. Jacobi had the audience leaping to their feet.”
Göttinger Tageblatt
Michael Schäfer, March 9, 2026
“That must be by Bach – Matthes has composed a St. Mark Passion that the Master himself seems to have penned; {…} bold, well-crafted in a style we are conversant with, and worth hearing.”
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Reinhard J. Brembeck, March 28 / 29, 2024
“In respectful accord with Bach’s musical language {…} a deeply serious undertaking, bereft of vanity {…} unceasingly dedicated to the spirit and tradition of the baroque Passions.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Werner M. Grimmel, April 7 / 8, 2024
“A baroque work of today {…} it sounds as if Nikolaus Matthes had been an apprentice to Bach himself.”
Radio NDR Kultur – “Das Konzert”
Franziska von Busse, Good Friday, March 29, 2024
“The most intriguing new Passion recording this year {…}, so baroque – but it was actually created in the last couple of years {…}. I found this surprisingly effective, especially in a performance as committed as this. {…} A brand new St. Mark Passion that often feels as old as Bach, but simultaneously fresh and vital.”
RADIO BBC 3 – Record Review
Andrew McGregor, March 30, 2024
“{…} in the ‘fast lane’, leaving behind all musicological reconstruction attempts {…}, an oratory about which one may say: ‘et re-incarnatus est . . . ’ ”
Pro Classics
Dr. Eckhardt van den Hoogen, February 2024
“Matthes has composed a St. Mark Passion in the style of Johann Sebastian Bach, based on Picander’s text – and it sounds so Bach-like that one might think Matthes is a chameleon who, when encountering Bach, is able to adapt his skin perfectly to his counterpart.”
Göttinger Kammermusikgesellschaft e. V., Novellette no. 299
Michael Schäfer, February 18, 2026
“One ear in the Baroque, one in the present.”
Musik Basel
Kathrin Signer, April 10, 2024
“One takeaway is the thought of what Matthes would be like conducting the St. Matthew and St. John Bach originals?”
Fanfare Magazine
Colin Clarke, May 1, 2024
“Matthes proves himself as able a conductor as he is a composer. {…} Urgently, emphatically recommended.”
Fanfare Magazine
James A. Altena, May 26, 2024
“The Matthes St. Mark Passion triumphs as ‘a contemporary work written in the baroque style.’ It also is a gripping musical and dramatic experience, one that proceeds with arresting momentum. All credit is due to the superb team of Baroque vocalists and instrumentalists Matthes assembled and conducted in the performances and recording of his St. Mark Passion. {…} The recording is first-rate, as is the packaging. {…} This is a quite remarkable and endlessly fascinating achievement.”
Fanfare Magazine
Ken Meltzer, May 26, 2024
“What Nikolaus Matthes has achieved in this work is nothing short of breathtaking, and he has given music lovers a great gift in writing it. As a Christian, I found this work not only a magnificent musical experience, but also a profoundly moving opportunity for worship. I trust that sooner rather than later this work will receive the wide performance it deserves.”
Fanfare Magazine
David DeBoor Canfield, autumn 2024
“Well aware that extraordinarily competent professionals stood and sat before him, Matthes gave leave to his ensemble to play, make music, sing, interact, lose themselves in the music, group and regroup, perform to the utmost of their capability. Here nothing was suppressed: as the last chord of each number died away, the conductor’s gesture was carried to its conclusion. The remarkable, intangibly transcendental quality of this music may have something to do with the way it was conducted: we proceed through this Passion together, discovering it and letting it sound. To realize such a complex score so logically, gently (I would almost like to say, “lovingly”), and energetically is a high art, something that cannot be extracted from the ensemble, but only allowed to grow and prosper. Nikolaus Matthes must be a human being who leaves nothing to chance in composing, planning, preparing, and choosing his colleagues – and who exactly by virtue of all this is capable of letting go at the crucial moment, of allowing the music to arise, of even seemingly perceiving the audience, of working with the resonance of the present space.”
Pius Strassmann, Luzern
April 7, 2023