After two sold-out performances of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah last month at Grace Cathedral, the American Bach Soloists (ABS) will devote the rest of their 23rd season exclusively to the compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach with one program of secular instrumental music and two of sacred vocal music. These three programs were reviewed last September when they were first announced; but, since the first of them will take place at the end of next month, it is time to provide it with a bit more focus. This will be the most extensive offering of the season, a performance of the BWV 244 setting of the Passion text in the Gospel According to Saint Matthew.
As I observed in September, this performance will be based on “a rarely performed manuscript from the 1740s.” This manuscript is Bach’s first version of the composition, which he handed down to his principal assistant (and son-in-law), Johann Christoph Altnickol. This version offers a highly transparent account of how Bach wished to balance his resources, thus revealing fascinating details that are not encountered in the usual performances. This is most evident in the use of soloists for dramatic ensemble scenes, usually sung by full chorus. Other distinguishing features include different voice part assignments for some of the arias and the use of one of Bach’s favorite keyboard instruments, the lautenwerk (also known as the “lautenclavicymbel” or “lute harpsichord”), whose gut strings make it a hybrid synthesis of lute and harpsichord.
The choral resources will involve the full American Bach Choir supplemented by the Pacific Boychoir. The soloists will include tenor Wesley Rogers, returning for a reprise performance of the Evangelist, while the role of Christus will be sung by baritone Joshua Copeland, an ABS Young Artist Competition winner. Another past Competition winner, Danielle Reutter-Harrah (who performed in the BWV 243 setting of the Magnificat canticle last May) will sing the alto solos, while Anne-Kathryn Olsen, winner of last year’s Voices of Music Young Artists Bach Competition, will share the soprano solos with Clara Rottsolk. Mischa Bouvier, who was also in the BWV 243 performance, will share baritone solos with Robert Stafford. The other soloists will be countertenor Jay Carter and tenors Derek Chester and Aaron Sheehan. The entire ensemble will be conducted by ABS Music Director, Jeffrey Thomas.
The San Francisco performance of this concert will take place at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church (1111 O’Farrell Street, near the corner of Franklin) at 7:00 PM on Sunday, February 26. Tickets range in price from $18 to $53. There is an event page for this concert on the ABS Web site, as well a Web page for purchasing tickets. Further information is available by telephone at 415-621-7900.
On a related note (so to speak), Thomas will lead a Master Class in baroque performance practice tonight (January 30) at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He will coach four students in vocal selections from two Handel operas, Agrippina and Rodelinda. This event will be in the Conservatory Recital Hall at 7:30 PM. It is open to the general public for free, and no tickets are required.
Finally, most of the plans for the American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy, which will take place that the San Francisco Conservatory of Music beginning on July 12 and running through July 22, are now in place. The Festival features the Chamber Series: works by Bach and French composers François Couperin, Jean-Marie Leclair, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Jean-Philippe Rameau, performed by ABS members; and the Masterworks Series: selected works from Baroque opera and oratorios performed by ABS and Academy participants. This latter Series includes Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Rameau’s Pigmalion, and two performances of Bach’s BWV 232 B Minor setting of the Mass text. New for the 2012 Festival, the Distinguished Artist Series will present countertenor Ian Howell performing a special concert on July 21, 2012, featuring works by North German composers Johann Fischer, Georg Melchior Hoffmann, Franz Tunder, Johann Christoph Bach, and “Bach-the-father,” along with music for voice and viols by William Byrd and Purcell. The Academy Series features “Academy-in-Action” performances by ABS Academy participants – the next generation of early music virtuosi – as they perform Bach cantatas and chamber orchestra works from the Baroque. Along with these performances, free events including Master Classes, Lectures, and a Public Colloquium, "Invitation to the Dance," provide multiple opportunities for education and engagement during the Festival. The Festival has its own Web page on the ABS Web site, which includes a hyperlink to specific ticket information.
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