The first days in May for the Bach Family The first few days in May had a significance one for the Bach family. On 3 May 1694 Bach’s mother Maria Elisabeth ( née Lämmerhirt) was buried at Eisenach at the age of 50, her son Sebastian only nine years old. In happier times nearly [...]
RPS Bicentenary continues with some inspired choices for Hon. Memberships The RPS is marking its bicentenary year by awarding Honorary Memberships to five extraordinary music makers on four continents. The recipients are: ► Armand Diangienda, a former airline pilot who founded a symphony orchestra in one of the poorest cities on earth, Kinshasa, DR of the [...]
22 April 1723 – Leipzig Bach was elected Cantor by the Leipzig Town Council at the age of 38. There were several more apparent ‘hoops’ for him to go through before he finally took office the following month. This was the beginning of the most wondrous period of music composition to flow from his pen [...]
In remembrance of the founder of the London Bach Society, Steinitz Bach Players, Bach scholar and conductor, writer and teacher Dr. Paul Steinitz who died 25 years ago on 21 April 1988. Share this:
The Mayor of Leipzig to present the medal at June Bachfest The Leipzig Bach Medal was established in 2003 and many distinguished interpreters of Bach’s music from around the globe have enjoyed the simple, dignified ceremony carried out during the annual Bachfest in the composer’s city. The award itself celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and [...]
A brief reflection on 12-15 March, Rehearsals and Performance It was the UK ‘live’ première of this early version, something we were able to establish finally just before the performance, and what a week it turned out to be! A wonderful opportunity to think afresh about a work we think we know well. So first [...]
Lina Lalandi OBE (d. 8 June 2012) Lina Lalandi, the founder of the English Bach Festival, died last month. She was in her early nineties and one of the most colourful figures on the Festival scene during her lifetime. Her vision and flair, backed up by sheer nerve, made her a formidable character to deal [...]
Masaaki Suzuki awarded the Leipzig Bach Medal 2012 The 2012 Leipzig Bach Medal was awarded to the Japanese conductor and harpsichordist Masaaki Suzuki on 8 June at a concert given by the Bach Collegium Japan as part of the 2012 Leipzig Bachfest. BCJ’s founder-conductor, Professor Suzuki is a major contributor to Bach scholarship and performance and another whose [...]
Nikolaus Harnoncourt is awarded RPS Medal The distinguished Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt was given one of the world’s most prestigious awards – The Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society. On Sunday 22 April 2012 at 3.00pm in London’s Barbican Centre, Harnoncourt joined a roll of honour without parallel in the history of world music. [...]
A Passion Première in a new Elizabethan Age At this time of year we are either busy rehearsing or buying tickets for one of the Bach Passions performances coming up. The choice nationwide is now considerable, the approaches to them and the interpretations very varied. The presence of these inspirational works in our lives, created and provided by [...]
