Storyteller interprets Bach with passion

Ian Honeyman. Photo / Supplied.

Next Thursday's choral masterpiece from Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra is Bach's monumental St Matthew Passion. Teddy Tahu Rhodes sings Christus and conductor Roy Goodman is in his element and field of expertise.

Crucial solo parts are handled by English mezzo Susan Bickley and Australian tenor Paul McMahon alongside New Zealanders Rebecca Ryan and Conal Coad, while English tenor Ian Honeyman makes his New Zealand debut as the Evangelist.

Honeyman has been based in France for the past 30 years, wooed across the Channel to join William Christie's prestigious Early Music group, Les Arts Florissants.

"Britain was a fabulous place for music in those days but there was little other than chorus work because there were so many singers," he says.

Britten's music has always been a favourite and one of Honeyman's most satisfying roles is the Madwoman in Curlew River, a part originated by English tenor Peter Pears.

"Peter Pears and Tina Turner are two of my gods," he explains. "It's nice to have those archetypes."

While Honeyman prefers Pears' early recordings when he was struggling technically, he was thrilled to catch Tina Turner's final concert in Sheffield, driving there over the Pennines with dodgy brakes.

"Vocally she was beginning to suffer a bit, but she stood there for three and a half hours, still capable of getting people in her hands and making them listen," he recalls. "She's a goddess and a storyteller."

On Thursday, Honeyman is the ultimate storyteller as Bach's Evangelist. "I'm a big-headed guy," he laughs, "and if there's any storytelling I want to do it. As the Evangelist, you not only get to tell the story but you sculpt these amazingly shaped recitatives. You bring people into the drama. One compliment that I cherish was when a member of the audience told me I had made them understand even though they didn't know a word of German. It's very humbling."

Choosing between Bach's St Matthew and St John Passions, Honeyman prefers the latter's more dramatic and compact score. A review of a San Diego St John three years ago talks of the tenor's "manic demeanour more reminiscent of the occasional televangelist".

St Matthew Passion does not offer the same opportunities and temptations. "It's more contemplative, there's such a lot of intense concentration going on."

Meanwhile, Honeyman is surprised that a 2007 production of the 13th century The Play of Daniel, in which he played King Darius, is available on the internet. He prefers this version, staged in Southwark Cathedral, to the 1998 CD recording of the work. The king's character interested him. "He's the only person with a modern psychological character who evolves. For an actor it's great."

While the Gothic interior of Southwark Cathedral worked well for the piece, Daniel did not transfer so well to the singer's alma mater, Kings College Cambridge, "because it's not got the right architectural space".

Yet there was one particularly dramatic moment. "When I took the throne I just let out a scream," Honeyman remembers. "Everyone looked at me because it wasn't there in rehearsal. It was a primal scream, my 18-year-old self reacting against the vocal and emotional things I'd been through in that chapel.

"My body takes over after certain things. I just follow what it wants to do. The whole notion of technical perfection is an anathema. You've got to balance it with the opportunity for emotional expression and sometimes imperfection can become perfection."

Performance:

What: Bach St Matthew Passion

Where and when: Auckland Town Hall at 8pm