Here's a taste of Berlin Philharmonic's interactive rendition of Bach's St. Matthew Passion. The two voices that I got to hear on this short YouTube.com version are beautiful. The performance reminds me of an opera, but for some reason, I found it a bit distracting.

But there is a more important point regarding Tom Huizenga's review for NPR. Huizenga writes, "Religious convictions aside, Bach's melodies . . . tell a story with universal sensibilities: loyalty, loss and hope for a better future." While it's true that everyone suffers and thus can relate to this piece, in this instance, you can't separate religious convictions from the work. The Passion is about an historical event which happened to a real man named Jesus -- who also happened to be (and is) God.

If you're not convinced of my conviction about this matter, let me put it another way: If you saw a stage performance or movie of The Producers by Mel Brooks, you wouldn't be able to confuse the historical person and event that Brooks was writing about with another nasty dictator.



If you're not convinced of my conviction about this matter, let me put it another way: If you saw a stage performance or movie of The Producers by Mel Brooks, you wouldn't be able to confuse the historical person and event that Brooks was writing about with another nasty dictator.