Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wrote some of the most beautiful music for the Christmas season and, despite being Lutheran, he composed a Mass of the Catholic liturgy: the Mass in B minor. Unfortunately, these splendid compositions find little or no space in the programming of Italian musical institutions, which nevertheless valorise the rich musical heritage of our tradition (from Monteverdi to Vivaldi, from Scarlatti to Pergolesi, without forgetting masterpieces of sacred music composed by opera giants such as Rossini and Verdi).
At this time of year, to listen to Bach you have to travel beyond the Alps, where the sacred compositions of the genius from Eisenach are regularly performed in concert halls, churches and parishes. An example: on the afternoon of 7 December the evangelical church of Amsoldingen, a Swiss municipality of just over 800 inhabitants located in an enchanting position in the Canton of Bern, hosted the performance of three Cantatas ofChristmas Oratory (I, IV and VI), by artists of the highest level: the vocal group Ardent, the Capriccio Barockorchester directed by Patrick Secchiari and the soloists Chelsea Zurflüh (soprano), Désirée Mori (mezzo-soprano), Raphael Höhn (tenor) and Felix Gygli (baritone).
In the next few days Bach’s masterpieces will arrive at the Berlin Philharmonie, the home of one of the most prestigious and acclaimed orchestras in the world, the Berliner Philharmoniker, designed by the German architect Hans Scharoun and inaugurated in 1963.
On 18, 19 and 20 December the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Raphaël Pichon performs the Mass in B minor BWV 232. The soloists are Nikola Hillebrand, Xenia Puskarz Thomas, Beth Taylor, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Huw Montague Rendall, Christian Immler, RIAS Chamber Choir of Berlin.
Curious detail: the autograph score of the Mass in B minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, a document included in the UNESCO Memory of the World programme, is located a few steps from the Philharmonie Berlin, in the vault of the music department of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (Berlin State Library), preserved at a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius and 50% humidity. Even today it is not known what prompted Bach, who was Lutheran, to set the entire text of the Catholic liturgy mass to music. Bach himself never heard a performance of his Mass.
Engraved for the label harmony mundi with the group Pygmalion, the version of Bach’s masterpiece (once defined by Riccardo Muti as “two hours of heaven”) conducted by the French master Pichon has won all the main discography awards this year and has now become a reference performance. At the Philarmonie the musical performance is entrusted to the hosts, the formidable Berlin Philarmniker. It is no coincidence that the three concerts have been “sold out” for some time, that is, they are “sold out”.
However, it will also be possible to follow Bach’s Mass remotely, live, on the evening of 20 December, using the service of the Digital Concert Hall, the platform that streams the concerts of the Berliner Philarmoniker on demand.. The formulas for registering and subscribing are very flexible and suitable for all budgets. In addition to live concerts, the platform hosts over 850 videos of concerts made over six decades, films, documentaries and portraits of artists, numerous interviews with great conductors and soloists. All orchestra concerts from the Philharmonie Berlin, the Europakonzert and the Waldbühne concert are broadcast live in the Digital Concert Hall and then repeated.
To give an idea of the richness and quality of Bach’s music on offer, we would like to remind you that on the evening of 17 December in the Kammermusiksaal (the chamber music hall of the Philharmonie) you will be able to listen to another concert dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach. Four Christmas cantatas are on the program: “Darzu ist gesucht der Sohn Gottes”, BWV 40; “Ich freut mich in dir” ,BWV 133; “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland”, BWV 62; “Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt”, BWV 151. The performance is entrusted to the brilliant and acclaimed Freiburger Barockorchester (Freiburg Baroque Orchestra), with Péter Barczi Violin and conductor. The soloists are Marie Luise Werneburg, Elvira Bill, Raphael Höhn and Dominik Wörner. The performers are the greatest exponents of historically informed performance practice, particularly for the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The program offers a glimpse of the immense variety of Bach’s production in the field of cantatas. The instrumentation, in particular, creates a vibrant and colorful soundscape: a bright cornet resonates in the cantata “Ich freut mich in Dir”, while a flute and an oboe d’amore evoke an introspective atmosphere in “Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt”. The two horns in “Dazu gesucht ist der Sohn Gottes”, on the other hand, highlight the essential festive spirit of the Christmas season.
