The RCO’s annual “Kerstmatinee” (Christmas Matinee) has become a much loved holiday tradition. For this edition, the orchestra, led by Philippe Herreweghe, performs J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor, one of the gems of his oeuvre – for the first time in 45 years! The choir Collegium Vocale Gent shares the stage with outstanding soloists Dorothee Mields, Hana Blažikova, Alex Potter, Robin Tritschler and Krešimir Stražanac. Often referred to as Bach’s “Hohe Messe” (High Mass), the full-scale Catholic mass was given this name in the 19th century to distinguish it from the Baroque composer’s other, small masses. Why the Lutheran Bach decided to create a Catholic mass late in life, remains unclear; what is evident, however, is that his work is nothing less than a monumental masterpiece. Herreweghe’s Mass is “grand and yet moving!” (Het Parool)
L’Orfeo
On the occasion of the 450th anniversary of this genius’ birth, an international cast of soloists together with members of the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists under the baton of their artistic director Sir John Eliot Gardiner commemorate the Italian composer in a series of semi-staged performances at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Gardiner, one of the most versatile conductors of our time, is certainly acknowledged as a key figure in the early music revival of the past five decades. His lifelong examination of Monteverdi’s work makes him uniquely qualified to celebrate the composer in all his glory with the semi-staged opera trilogy L’Orfeo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and L’incoronazione di Poppea. “Anyone who has had trouble to access Montiverdi’s music so far, should listen to this trilogy. A whole world will open up for him or her.” (FAZ)
Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria
On the occasion of the 450th anniversary of this genius’ birth, an international cast of soloists together with members of the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists under the baton of their artistic director Sir John Eliot Gardiner commemorate the Italian composer in a series of semi-staged performances at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Gardiner, one of the most versatile conductors of our time, is certainly acknowledged as a key figure in the early music revival of the past five decades. His lifelong examination of Monteverdi’s work makes him uniquely qualified to celebrate the composer in all his glory with the semi-staged opera trilogy L’Orfeo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and L’incoronazione di Poppea. “Anyone who has had trouble to access Montiverdi’s music so far, should listen to this trilogy. A whole world will open up for him or her.” (FAZ)
L’incoronazione di Poppea
On the occasion of the 450th anniversary of this genius’ birth, an international cast of soloists together with members of the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists under the baton of their artistic director Sir John Eliot Gardiner commemorate the Italian composer in a series of semi-staged performances at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Gardiner, one of the most versatile conductors of our time, is certainly acknowledged as a key figure in the early music revival of the past five decades. His lifelong examination of Monteverdi’s work makes him uniquely qualified to celebrate the composer in all his glory with the semi-staged opera trilogy L’Orfeo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and L’incoronazione di Poppea. “Anyone who has had trouble to access Montiverdi’s music so far, should listen to this trilogy. A whole world will open up for him or her.” (FAZ)
Mass in B minor
In Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church, Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan perform Bach’s Opus summum: the Mass in B minor, which marks the 2023 Bach Festival’s festive closing. They are joined by an excellent ensemble of soloists who perform the arias as well as the choral parts together with the chorus of the Bach Collegium Japan.