In the title role, tenor Lawrence Wiliford excelled in Albert’s darker moments. [H]is second act turn as a drunk and frustrated Albert (a cheeky male version of the conventional mad scene) was spectacular, with just the right touch of bitter desperation to move from comic turn to psychodrama.

The Pyramus and Thisby skit was crowned by Lawrence Wiliford's terrific Francis Flute, done up in a frock and hairstyle that made him look uncannily like Dame Felicity Lott in her prime. Full of fabulous bel canto histrionics, Wiliford's Thisby seized his moment like the grandest of divas.

The lead figure of the Passion is the role of the Evangelist, who narrates the story of Jesus’ betrayal, trial, crucifixion and death. Lawrence Wiliford was astounding in this role. His tenor voice took on the various characters demanded by the Biblical text — from simply “moving the plot along” to passionate pleading to intense cries of fervor; the vocal timbre drew from a seemingly infinite number of colors and affects, all in clearly enunciated German.