Are Bach’s Passions dramas or spiritual experiences? The spate of staged performances over recent decades has heightened the debate. But the truth is that they are both. And the secret of a great performance is the conductor’s ability to realise both aspects.

John Eliot Gardiner has been steeped in the sacred works of Bach for so long now that his understanding of their essential nature is second to none.

Last night’s St John Passion with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists was another masterly exposition of the profound reading he has developed over the years. The dramatic impulse is provided by the seamless alternation of recitatives, arias and choruses, the Evangelist (the incomparable Mark Padmore) sweeping the narrative forward, the chorus switching between their multiple roles as participants, observers and believers with knife‑edge precision.

Then there are the dynamic contrasts (chorales and choruses begun sotto voce and building to belligerent or affirmative climaxes), or a contemplative mood shattered by a cry of “Crucify!”.

The soloists, with the exception of Jesus (a study in quiet authority by Peter Harvey) and the Evangelist, step out of the choir for their solos. There is dramatic capital to be made of this, as when Matthew Brook’s Pilate turns to address the crowd from which he has just emerged. They protest at his proposal to free Jesus, demanding Barabbas, whereupon the Evangelist repeats the robber’s name, entering on an electrifying high A.

There was also admirable solo work from Katharine Fuge, Robin Blaze, Nicholas Mulroy and Jeremy Budd, which made this another performance for the annals.

www.bbc.co.uk/proms