Artistic Director Maul: Bach Festival also shows the backbone of Bach care
30 Bach choirs from all over the world will make next year's Bach Festival both traditional and extraordinary. "With the performance of the entire choral cantata cycle, we are undertaking a truly mammoth project - but not only with well-known Bach performers, but also with the backbone of the Bach tradition: Bach choirs from all over the world," said the director of the Bach Festival, Michael Maul, to the German Press Agency. Warmth, closeness and community should be felt next year when the audience is invited to sing together with the choirs. Advance tickets for the Bach Festival go on sale on November 20.
Under the motto "Choral Total", all 66 cantatas that Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) put to paper as Thomaskantor in Leipzig from 1724 will be performed next year. 300 years after the first performance of the cycle, choirs and visitors from all over the world are expected between June 7 and 16. Over 150 events are planned.
In addition to the cycle, there are other anniversaries to celebrate during the Bachfest 2024, according to the organizers. Many of the hymns that Bach transformed into choral cantatas will be half a millennium old next year. They will be examined from different angles in concerts and lectures. In addition, Bach's first Leipzig Passion music, the St. John Passion, which celebrates its 300th anniversary next year, will be shown in three different formats - including at the opening of the festival.
Maul said he was sure that the audience would accept the invitation to sing along. "We've already done test runs with sing-along concerts in recent years, for example." It has been observed that the core audience has often sung for decades in a choir, for example. "The willingness to sing among the Bachians is therefore comparatively high. They are mostly active admirers - in contrast to the Wagnerians."
It is to be expected that a particularly large number of people from abroad will come to Leipzig next year for the Bach Festival, said Maul. "It's not just the singers of the choirs who come, but also their families and supporters - in other words, the enjoying, silent part. There is usually a whole Bach society behind the choirs." Choirs from Australia, Japan, the USA and Europe, among others, are expected. "Plus - as always - the Champions League of Bach performers."
Internationality is one of the hallmarks of the Bach Festival, says the director. He is proud of this: "During the last Bach Festival, we had guests from 56 countries. Not even Bayreuth can manage that." International guests accounted for up to 43 percent in 2023. "Next year, the proportion could increase significantly."
The director mentioned that they're not only collaborating with renowned Bach performers but also involving Bach choirs from around the world, aiming to make the festival both traditional and extraordinary. After the successful sing-along concerts in recent years, Maul is confident that the audience will eagerly accept the invitation to sing together during the Bach Festival.
Source: www.dpa.com
