Hailed as "the greatest story ever told", St Matthew's Passion has been recognized as the pinnacle of musical achievement in Europe since the Baroque era. But Bach's masterpiece isn't often heard in Beijing. Well, wanting to change this trend, a chorus of international singers brought a taste of European passion to the capital.

Saturday's concert is the second performance this year by the International Festival Chorus. Founded in 2002, the troupe is made up of volunteers from over 20 countries. Staging mainly classic European choral music, the group is trying to fill a blank on Beijing's musical scene. With English as their main language, it was quite a challenge for the international group to sing in German, but it won them respect from the audience.

The international chorus stepped onto Beijing's classical music stage with a sell-out performance of Mozart's Requiem in March 2002. The troupe gives three concerts a year. Although most of their work is classical European, they attempted a contemporary Chinese choral piece -- the Yellow River Cantata -- late last year.

(CCTV.com May 25, 2004)