The chorus has become a single mighty instrument

Bach's "Passion According to St. John" is not exactly a vehicle for star performers. The music itself is mighty enough to keep the spotlight, whoever is singing it. Still, Friday's performance by the New Oratorio Singers and a cast of splendid soloists called for an Oscar or two... Under Heatherington, the 98-member chorus has become a single mighty instrument. In this echo-rich space Bach's contrapuntal web-weaving lost some clarity, but the chorales, with their straightforward, all-of-a-piece harmony, were amplified and burnished to magnificence... A high point was the swelling chorus, "Rest well," that followed Jesus' burial -- an outpouring of grief that was somehow free of stress, grief at peace with itself. Concert info…