The Leipzig Bach Archive has located around 300 Bach choirs and Bach societies worldwide. More than 20 of them will come to the Leipzig Bach Festival this year, held under the motto “Bach — We are Family” from June 9 to 19. “The invitation was a great surprise for us,” says the founder and musical director of theBach Collegium de Asuncion from Paraguay, Diego Sanchez Haase.
To make music in Leipzig, where the baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach worked as a cantor at the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Church) for 27 years, has long been a great dream of the choir and ensemble director. “We are excited and working with a lot of enthusiasm. In the last few weeks before the concerts, we rehearsed three times a week,” he told DW.
The Bach Collegium Asuncion, founded in 2008, specializes in the historical performance practice of Baroque music. This is the name given to efforts to reproduce the music of past eras using authentic instruments and historical playing techniques.
At the Bach Festival, Collegium Asuncion will sing and play Bach cantatas in the “Kantate Domino” series on June 15.
The COVID pandemic leaves its mark
This year, not all invited choirs can come to Leipzig because of the pandemic. For example, the Johannesburg Bach Choir had to cancel its trip.
After the lockdown in South Africa, the singers could not meet again for rehearsals until this year. “Because of the uncertainties and all the travel restrictions, it was unfortunately no longer logistically possible to arrange a trip to Leipzig in time,” says the choir’s Marlene Ross.
“Especially from Asia and Australia, where the COVID numbers were still very high until the end, choirs had to cancel on us,” Michael Maul told DW. Many choirs hardly had time for rehearsals after the lockdowns in their countries.
The excitement is all the greater among those who are traveling anyway. “It’s been so crazy with the whole pandemic. We’ve been planning the program for four years, but we’ve had to change everything again and again, and now we can hardly wait for it to start,” says Lisette Canton from Canada.
Bach’s music in Leipzig
Lisette Canton, on the other hand, is especially looking forward to the enthusiastic audience in Leipzig. “People in Canada appreciate classical music and culture, but it’s not the same as in Leipzig. There, people really understand and adore this music by Bach.”
There will be a special highlight at the “Bach — We are Family” project at the end of the Bach Festival. With 92 singers from 16 nations, the Bach Archive president and conductor, Ton Koopman, will rehearse Bach cantatas in a workshop. Accompanied by the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra, this vocal power will be heard on June 18 in St. Thomas Church.
(Article attributed: DW.com)
