In 2012, one of the finest boys’ choirs in the world, the St. Thomas Boys Choir Leipzig, celebrated its 800th anniversary. An almost unbelievable period of time, if one considers that the choir outlasted all ups and downs of European history, maintaining its unbroken traditions over the centuries and holding onto established principles such as the inclusion of the elder boys in the education of the younger ones. A musical event of very particular significance during the anniversary celebration, is the traditional performance of one of Bach’s Passions in St. Thomas Church in the run-up to Easter.
Blomstedt conducts Bach’s Mass in B Minor
Just a few weeks before his 90th birthday, Herbert Blomstedt gifted himself a special birthday present: conducting Bach’s Mass in B Minor, in the Leipzig Thomaskirche – the composer’s former workplace. According to Blomstedt, Bach’s last complete vocal work is the climax of his creativity and is one of the most important works in his life: “It is like a reflection of doubt. It is enormously powerful music in the same way that a wedge is enormously powerful.” For Peter Wollny, director of the Bach-Archiv Leipzig, Bach’s magnum opus is “without doubt the most intellectually and musically varied and challenging of Bach’s compositions” and “one of the greatest achievements of Western culture.” The concert closed the Bachfest Leipzig 2017 and was performed by the Gewandhausorchester, the Dresdner Kammerchor, and the soloists Christina Landshamer, Elisabeth Kulman, Wolfram Lattke and Luca Pisaroni.