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Bach: Mass in B minor – Herbert Blomstedt, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Dresdner Kammerchor

„Nothing else that he wrote is as all-encompassing as the Mass in B minor, not even the great Passions,” says Herbert Blomstedt about Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Opus summum”. In June 2017, the Dresdner Kammerchor and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under the musical direction of Herbert Blomstedt have merged ingeniously to conclude the Bachfest Leipzig with this unrivaled work – a work that, written for both Dresden and Leipzig, bears close connections to choir and orchestra as well as to Herbert Blomstedt himself. (more…)

St. Matthew Passion – Gaechinger Cantorey, Hans-Christoph Rademann

In its choreographed version of the St. Matthew Passion, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart offers new dimensions to Bach‘s musical drama. And, for the one hundred schoolchildren who delved into Bach‘s monumental work and learned to dance as an artistic form of self-expression, it was an opportunity to experience the power of his music first hand. The interplay of professional musicians and young amateurs turned into a creative bridge for all involved.

 

“The St. Matthew Passion [..] was performed in March, filmed, released on DVD by the fine label accentus music”   FAZ

 “Rademann’s St Matthew Passion is musically soft and solemn.”  Pizzicato

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Mendelssohn’s Elias – RIAS Kammerchor – Akamus Berlin

Felix Mendelssohn – Elias
op. 70, MWV A 25

RIAS Kammerchor
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Hans-Christoph Rademann, conductor

Marlis Petersen (soprano), Lioba Braun (mezzo – soprano)
Maximilian Schmitt (tenor), Thomas Oliemans (baritone)

“Never was there a more complete triumph – never a more thorough and speedy recognition of a great work of art.” This was the response of the critic in the London Times to the wildly successful premiere of Felix Mendelssohn’s Elias in 1846. Hans-Christoph Rademann began his tenure as Principal Conductor of the RIAS Chamber Choir with this groundbreaking oratorio. After eight productive and successful years, his final concert in July 2015 also featured the work. It was a “Farewell Performance with Furor” (Der Tagesspiegel), not least because of the impressive performers involved: the RIAS Chamber Choir, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and the soloists Marlis Petersen, Lioba Braun, Maximilian Schmitt, and Thomas Oliemans. (more…)

Adam’s Passion – Arvo Pärt, Robert Wilson

Music by Arvo Pärt

Adam’s Lament
Tabula rasa
Miserere
Sequentia

Stage Direction, Set Design & Lighting Concept: Robert Wilson

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste

Michalis Theophanous, Lucinda Childs

“You see, this story is your story, one that questions me. And this story is my story, one that responds to you. This is our common story. The story of Adam is the story of all mankind. And it is one of tragedy.” Arvo Pärt (more…)

Claudio Abbado, Lucerne Festival Orchestra – Mozart Requiem

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Requiem in D minor, K. 626
Edition by Franz Beyer, Sanctus completed by Robert Levin

Claudio Abbado
Lucerne Festival Orchestra

Bavarian Radio Choir, Swedish Radio Choir
Peter Dijkstra (Chorus Master)

Anna Prohaska (Soprano), Sara Mingardo (Alto), Maximilian Schmitt (Tenor), René Pape (Bass)

“The baton is not a magic wand – it cannot join together the fragmentary work that Mozart composed in the face of death. Yet, in Abbado’s hand, the baton could become a guide to the mysterious, sublime, consoling legacy of Mozart.”(Deutschlandradio Kultur)

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J. S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion – St. Thomas Boys Choir Leipzig

Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Matthew Passion BWV 244

St. Thomas Boys Choir Leipzig
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Georg Christoph Biller

Christina Landshamer (Soprano)
Stefan Kahle (Alto)
Wolfram Lattke (Tenor)
Martin Lattke (Tenor)
Klaus Mertens (Bass)
Gotthold Schwarz (Bass)

The renowned St. Thomas Boys Choir of Leipzig, which boasts J. S. Bach as a former cantor, celebrates its 800th anniversary with an extraordinary interpretation of the St. Matthew Passion. The Guardian praised how “the harmonic lines interwove with a transcendence that can only be achieved through living, eating and working together”. This Accentus Music production is the only audio-visual release of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, performed by the choir for which it was written, in St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, where the composer worked and is buried.

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Wilhelm Friedemann Bach – Cantatas

L’arpa festante München
Bachchor Mainz
Ralf Otto, conductor

Dorothee Mields (soprano) ǀ Gerhild Romberger (alto)
Georg Poplutz (tenor) ǀ Klaus Mertens (bass)

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Wohl dem, der den Herren fürchtet (BR-WFB F 19)
Sinfonia in D minor (BR C7)
O Wunder, wer kann dieses fassen (BR-WFB F 2)
Ach, dass du den Himmel zerrissest (BR-WFB F 3)
Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen (BR-WFB F 10)

In 2010 the world is celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, whose music – for the most disparate reasons – was for a long time shrouded in oblivion. Many of his works disappeared completely after the Second World War, and it was not until 1999 that they were rediscovered in Kiev. (more…)