{"id":96054,"date":"2023-05-03T11:20:02","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T15:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=96054"},"modified":"2023-05-03T11:20:02","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T15:20:02","slug":"preview-toronto-bach-festival-2023-offers-four-concerts-venues-across-downtown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2023\/05\/03\/preview-toronto-bach-festival-2023-offers-four-concerts-venues-across-downtown\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | Toronto Bach Festival 2023 Offers Four Concerts At Venues Across Downtown"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_96057\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-96057\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-96057\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/BAchfest-Preview.jpg\" alt=\"L-R: Keyboardist &amp; conductor Steven Devine (Photo courtesy of the artist); J.S. Bach (Public domain image)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-96057\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">L-R: Keyboardist &amp; conductor Steven Devine (Photo courtesy of the artist); J.S. Bach (Public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Toronto Bach Festival returns to the city from May 26 to 28, 2023 with a range of concert experiences to offer baroque music lovers. The program includes works performed by visiting soloist Steven Devine, including the Concerto in D minor for harpsichord, and, in a rare performance, the Concerto in C major for two harpsichords.<\/p>\n<p>Last year\u2019s festival drew record crowds. \u201cWe moved to a new venue, which gave us a lot more capacity,\u201d festival Artistic Director John Abberger explains. \u201cOur overall numbers were much higher than they ever had been.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What is it about the centuries old music of Johann Sebastian Bach that still resonates with modern audiences?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s isn&#8217;t very easy to answer, but I&#8217;ll be happy to nibble at it,\u201d Abberger begins. \u201cThere is something about Bach&#8217;s music that is so powerful in how it speaks to people. I haven&#8217;t met anyone who doesn\u2019t find this music moving,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>It reaches beyond the expected audiences in Europe and North America to touch the world. \u201cI find it remarkably universal,\u201d he says. \u201cThat&#8217;s why Bach is a great composer.\u201d It\u2019s much more than can be quantified by scientific analysis. \u201cIt speaks to us without words.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As he points out, you don\u2019t have to be a musicologist or baroque specialist to simply enjoy the music. \u201cI feel that in a multicultural city like Toronto, it builds community.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i4TYtaFRBqM?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>The Toronto Bach Festival<\/h2>\n<h3>Guest Artist: Keyboardist &amp; Conductor Steven Devine<\/h3>\n<p>English keyboardist Steven Devine is the festival&#8217;s guest artist, and he&#8217;ll be directing the opening concert, as well as performing The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 in its entirety. It&#8217;s his Toronto Bach Festival debut.<\/p>\n<p>Devine is the Music Director of the New Chamber Opera, Oxford, Principal Keyboard of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Artistic Advisor of the York Early Music Festival, among his many positions. He&#8217;s conducted the Academy of Ancient Music and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Victoria Baroque in BC, and Montreal&#8217;s Arion Baroque Ensemble, among many others. He has an extensive discography, including acclaimed 2019 recordings of the Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2.<\/p>\n<p>Abberger\u2019s association with Steven Devine goes back several years when they were both teaching a course on the West Coast. They\u2019ve played together subsequently. \u201cHe&#8217;s a fantastic player and a great spirit as a musician.\u201d Abberger invited him to the festival as soon as he was available. \u201cI&#8217;ve long wanted to program this D minor Concerto,\u2019 he says. As he points out, much of Bach\u2019s repertoire for harpsichord, as we know it now, was most likely written for other instruments. \u201cThis D minor piece is one of the few pieces that seems to have been written for the harpsichord.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, he wanted a top tier harpsichordist to perform. Steven, he says, was enthusiastic about the idea, and wanted to add the Well-Tempered Clavier as a complete performance.<br \/>\n\u201cI&#8217;m really looking forward to working with him and having him at the festival,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<h3>The Music<\/h3>\n<p>The program includes four concerts spread over three venues in Toronto. Bach\u2019s output includes works for orchestra, keyboard, and choral ensembles. \u201cEvery year we try to have those three pillars represented,\u201d Abberger says.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Virtuoso Concerto<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Friday, May 26; Church of the Holy Trinity<\/p>\n<p>Steven Devine directs as he plays the Concerto in D minor for harpsichord. He&#8217;ll then be joined by Christopher Bagan for the Concerto in C major for two harpsichords. Also on the program, festival concertmaster Julia Wedman performs the Concerto in E major for violin, and Bach&#8217;s Italian Concert in a new transcription, arranged and performed by Artistic Director John Abberger on the oboe.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Well-Tempered Clavier<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Saturday, May 27 | Part I at 12 p.m.; Part II at 2 p.m.; Eastminister United Church<\/p>\n<p>Festival guest artist Steven Devine performs the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 in full. While we thnk of them as a complete set nowadays, the preludes and fugues were actually composed and revised over several years. They were assembled into a single manuscript in 1722, just before Bach\u2019s departure for Leipzig.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WqoA9gsjHHA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p><strong>Kaffeehaus<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Saturday, May 27; The Concert Hall<\/p>\n<p>The Zimmermannsches Kaffeehaus, or Caf\u00e9 Zimmermann, at 14 Katharinenstrasse in Leipzig, was owned by one Gottfried Zimmermann. It was a frequent haunt of J.S. during his time in the city, and the venue where he premiered many of his non-religious works, including, not surprisingly, the Coffee Cantata. John Abberger directs, and well known <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2023\/04\/10\/preview-canadian-classic-last-curlew-brought-life-film-music-dance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Canadian actor R.H. Thomson<\/a> makes his festival debut in the role of Zimmermann, in a casual performance. The program includes Coffee Cantata, BWV 211; Concerto for Violin and Oboe by Telemann; Concerto for Four Violins, Op. 3, No. 7 by Vivaldi, performed by Rebecca Genge, soprano; James Gilchrist, tenor; Jonathon Adams, bass, and The Toronto Bach Festival Orchestra.<\/p>\n<p>R.H. Thomson has worked with Abberger previously via Tafelmusik. \u201cHe&#8217;s a great Canadian artist,\u201d he says. \u201cI&#8217;ve had the privilege of working with him on a number of occasions.\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Kaffeehaus concert puts a spotlight on Bach\u2019s life and creation. \u201cIt allows us to contextualize the instrumental music and the secular vocal music,\u201d Abberger says. \u201cIt&#8217;s much more logical to put them into a more informal atmosphere. We hope it would attract people who might be less inclined to come to a more formal concert hall,\u201d he says. It\u2019s a first for the festival. \u201cWe&#8217;re creating something new.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Leipzig Cantatas<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sunday, May 28; Eastminster United Church<\/p>\n<p>John Abberger directs in a program that includes the very first cantatas Bach performed in the churches of Leipzig shortly after his arrival there. It was meant to be an auspicious beginning, and it launched a period of remarkable productivity for the composer. He wrote more than 100 cantatas over the subsequent four years. The program features Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, and Die Himmel erza\u0308hlen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76, with sopranos Ellen McAteer and Sin\u00e9ad White, altos Daniel Taylor and Nicholas Burns, tenors James Gilchrist and Cory Knight, and basses Jonathan Adams and Adam Kuiack, supported by the Toronto Bach Festival Orchestra.<\/p>\n<p>Bach\u2019s vocal works are his least known to the general public, although, as Abberger points out, his instrumental pieces actually represent the smallest portion of his compositional output. \u201cYou haven\u2019t heard 72.83 percent of Bach,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole lot of other music that doesn\u2019t get played often.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He notes that the religious aspect of his choral works may be off-putting to some. \u201cBut, you don\u2019t have to engage with that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Annual Bach Lecture | J.S. Bach: Cantor, Capellmeister, Director<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sunday, May 28; Eastminster United Church<\/p>\n<p>Daniel R. Melamed, Professor of Musicology at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana delivers a talk that focuses on the pivot in Bach&#8217;s focus when he moved to Leipzig from instrumental and keyboard works to vocal works for the church.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;re looking forward to this really interesting point in Bach&#8217;s life when he left the court in K\u00f6then and took the position in Leipzig,\u201d Abberger explains. While little is known about Bach\u2019s private life, a letter of his exists that describes \u2014 and complains about \u2014 his move to Leipzig. However, while he felt forced to turn from instrumental music to cantatas for church, it marked the beginning of an extremely fruitful period in his career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[It was] an extraordinary creative outpouring,\u201d he says, noting that the change came about within a year. \u201cIt&#8217;s unbelievable, the music he wrote within the space of six or eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Festival passes are sold out, but single tickets are still available. Tickets and more information <strong>[<a href=\"https:\/\/www.torontobachfestival.org\/single-tickets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a>]<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em><b>#LUDWIGVAN<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p class=\"western\"><em>Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em>Sign up for the Ludwig van Daily \u2014 classical music and opera in five minutes or less <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/ludwig-van.us9.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=4f785cb3f9058f2393ccad035&amp;id=57cdb68eac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>HERE<\/em><\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Toronto Bach Festival returns to the city from May 26 to 28, 2023 with a range of concert experiences to offer baroque music lovers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":96057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40430,74,18,19,4967,26,29,4557,59],"tags":[40614,40613,19042],"yst_prominent_words":[13493,19041,19040],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/BAchfest-Preview.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-oZg","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96054"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96054"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96059,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96054\/revisions\/96059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96054"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=96054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}