Following its debut at the Barbican in March 2026, Tansy Davies’ The Passion of Mary Magdalene opened the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival on 8 August. The 85-minute oratorio is a radical reimagining of the Easter story, and was performed by Dunedin Consort conducted by John Butt, with Anna Dennis in the title role and Marcus Farnsworth as Jesus; it was commissioned by the Dunedin Consort, the Barbican Centre and the Edinburgh International Festival. Davies discusses the piece here.
…a radical reappraisal of one of our civilisation’s foundational tales…its unsettling sonic novelty came courtesy of the period-instrument Dunedin Consort…[who] brought Davies’s twittering, chattering textures to vivid life… A furious battle between constellations marked the crucifixion itself, while an ecstatic aria showed Mary’s physical passion for Jesus…a work to prod and provoke, and to inspire, in a performance so committed and convincing it’s hard to imagine a finer one.
The Scotsman (David Kettle) 9 August 2026 ****
Structurally, the work is immaculate, and once the ear tuned in to Davies’s sound world, that goes for coherence of the music as well…no-one could fail to be moved by the transcendent ending of Mary’s encounter with the risen Christ, perfectly sung by both soloists, or the geological metaphor with which the ensemble singers brought the work to a close.
The Herald (Keith Bruce) 9 August 2026 ****
Bringing repressed voices into the light, Davies’ oratorio draws on the non-canonical gospels, poetry by Ruth Fainlight, and ancient mystical texts to recast Mary Magdalene as a multifaceted spiritual leader. Discussing its music with Alexandra Coghlan in The Tablet, the composer described it as “both sensual and gritty, with plenty of extremes of light and dark and high and low. It’s simultaneously old and new, quite haunting, quite electric…It’s like a slightly fast heartbeat”.
Dunedin Consort presented the work on period instruments, including oboes, recorders (doubling flutes), bass lute, harpsichord, as well as an electric guitar – the instrumental avatar for Mary herself. The Netherlands premiere, to be presented by Het Muziek, Hermes Ensemble, and B’Rock, will be performed with the alternative modern instrumentation set out by Davies in the score.