On Good Friday 2013 (29 March) RTÉ presents performances of two master works associated with the solemnity and drama of Holy Week: Bach's sacred oratorio, the St John Passion and Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross. Tickets for the St John Passion start at €10. The Seven Last Words of Christ is free to those attending the St John Passion or €5 for those attending The Seven Last Words of Christ alone. Both events will take place in the National Concert Hall.

Sometimes called 'sermons in sound' Bach's cantatas and passion settings are works of extraordinary scale, range and intensity. His vivid setting of the Passion of Christ as told in the Gospel of St. John, with additional passages from St Matthew, was written for performance at the Good Friday service in St Nicholas Church, Leipzig in April 1724 and was the centrepiece of Bach's year-long cycle of liturgical cantatas. Expansive opening and closing choruses, moving chorales and solo arias make this an immensely powerful, dramatic and emotional work. It will be performed by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir and singers Mark Wilde (Evangelist), Nicholas Merryweather (Christus), Gavan Ring (Pilate), Sarah Power (soprano), Sharon Carty (mezzo-soprano) and Eamonn Mulhall (tenor) conducted by Michael Rosewell.

The RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet has attracted considerable public interest in venues around Ireland for its performances of Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Christ. On Good Friday 2013, it will perform the string quartet version of the orchestral original composed by Haydn in response to a commission for an orchestral work that would serve as an aid to meditation during the Good Friday religious services. The performance will be interspersed with Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Mark Strand's poem Poem After The Seven Last Words read by actor Philip O'Sullivan.

The performances of the St John Passion and The Seven Last Words of Christ on Good Friday 2013 mark a new departure for the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir and the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet and we hope you will be able to join us for this very special event.

Friday 29 March |National Concert Hall

1.30pm Haydn The Seven Last Words of Christ
RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet
Philip O'Sullivan, reader
Tickets: €5 or FREE if attending 3.30pm St John Passion performance (separate ticket required for FREE admission. Enquire when booking)
Booking (no fees): 01 417 0000 | www.nch.ie | www.rte.ie/nso

3.30pm Bach St John Passion
RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
Mark Wilde, Evangelist
Nicholas Merryweather, Christus
Gavan Ring, Pilate,
Sarah Power, soprano
Sharon Carty, mezzo-soprano
Eamonn Mulhall, tenor

RTÉ Philharmonic Choir (chorus master Mark Hindley)
Michael Rosewell, conductor

Tickets**: €10, €20, €30 (concessions €9, €18, €27)
** Ticket allows for FREE admission on request to The Seven Last Words of Christ. Separate ticket required for entry to The Seven Last Words of Christ. Enquire when booking.
Booking (no fees): 01 417 0000 | www.nch.ie | www.rte.ie/nso