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 tackling a truly mammoth project - but not only with well-known Bach performers, but also with the backbone of Bach's care: the 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 St. Thomas Cantor 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 birthday next year, will be shown in three different formats - including at the opening of the festival.
He is sure that the audience will accept the invitation to sing along, Maul said. "We have already carried out 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."
A particularly large number of people from abroad are expected to come to Leipzig next year for the Bach Festival, said Maul. "It's not just the singers from the choirs who come, but also their families and supporters - in other words, the part that enjoys the music and keeps quiet. 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 artistic 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 rise significantly."
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