Bach choir Mainz
| Bach choir Mainz | |
|---|---|
| Seat: | Mainz / Germany |
| Carrier: | Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau |
| Founding: | 1955 |
| Genus: | mixed choir |
| Founder: | Diethard Hellmann |
| Head : | Ralf Otto |
| Voices : | approx. 100 singers ( SATB ) |
| Website : | www.bachchormainz.de |
The Mainz Bach Choir is a mixed choir from Mainz , founded in 1955, which is known far beyond the borders of Germany with a rich repertoire of choral music from the 16th century to the present day. The choir is led by Ralf Otto .
history
The Mainz Bach Choir was founded in 1955 by Diethard Hellmann , who directed the choir for 30 years. Under the artistic direction of his successor Ralf Otto, the ensemble's program spectrum expanded continuously, with Otto placing particular emphasis on rarely performed works, especially those of contemporary music. At the same time, he established historically informed performance practice in Mainz and the region . More recently, the choir has performed monthly cantatas and concerts of baroque music with its own Bach orchestra in Mainz. The Mainz Bach Choir regularly performs the romantic and modern repertoire with the German Radio Philharmonic Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern and the German State Philharmonic Rhineland-Palatinate . The choir has worked with guest conductors such as Eliahu Inbal, Michael Gielen , Enoch zu Guttenberg , Péter Eötvös , Georges Prêtre , Peter Schreier , Ádám Fischer , Sylvain Cambreling , Riccardo Chailly and Philippe Jordan .
Concert activity
The Mainz Bach Choir is a regular guest at home and abroad. Much acclaimed concert tours have taken the choir to France, Spain, Poland, Israel and South America. Since 1992 he has been regularly engaged in the Philharmonic Concerts at the Zurich Opera House . In 2003 the ensemble received the award "Best Choir of 2003" from the Association of Music Critics of Argentina. In 2006, the Mainz Bach Choir accepted an invitation from the Mozarteum Argentino to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, where, together with the German State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate, it performed Mozart's "Great C minor Mass" in sold-out houses (including several times in the Teatro Colón / Buenos Aires) and Handel's "Messiah" in the Mozart version. The Mainz Bach Choir took part in renowned concert series such as the Rheingau Music Festival , the Mosel Music Festival (opening concerts 2013, 2015 and 2018), the Bad Urach Autumn Music Days, the Weilburg Palace Concerts , the European Church Music Festival in Schwäbisch Gmünd , the Echternach International Festival and the International May Festival at the State Theater Wiesbaden .
In October 2018, the Mainz Bach Choir premiered the oratorio Im Spiegel der Angst by Gerhard Müller-Hornbach . The work was commissioned by the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation by Martin Luther in 2017.
Recordings
The choir's palette ranges from the compact ensemble for early music, with occasional soloists, to the large concert choir for romantic and modern literature. Another focus of the work of the Mainz Bach Choir is radio, television and CD productions. In 2006 NCA released a new recording of the Mozart Requiem in the version supplemented by Robert D. Levin, which received good reviews and awards. In 2008 the Mainz Bach Choir released the CD Noël on SONY BMG classical with French Christmas music from the Romantic period. As a partner for this, the choir was able to win the Munich baroque orchestra L'arpa festante , with whom it has a long-term collaboration with regard to historical performance practice.
On the occasion of the rediscovery of many of his works that have been lost since World War II and on the occasion of his 300th year of birth, the Mainz Bach Choir is dedicating a production to the eldest son of the great Thomas cantor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach . For this production, four of his cantatas were recorded audiovisually for the first time.
In 2017, the Mainz Bach Choir, under the direction of Ralf Otto, began recording a series of CDs on the Naxos label , which until 2019 will publish the large-format works by Johann Sebastian Bach , including the St. John Passion , the St. Matthew Passion , the Christmas Oratorio and the Mass in B minor .
Web links
- Works by and about Bachchor Mainz in the catalog of the German National Library
- Bach choir Mainz
Individual evidence
- ^ "In the mirror of fear" - world premiere of Müller-Hornbach's Luther Oratorio in Mainz | nmz - new music newspaper. Retrieved October 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Mainzer Bachchor: The Naxos label will publish four major vocal compositions by the baroque master by 2019 . Allgemeine Zeitung, February 9, 2018