#bachfest

A few weeks ago I posted an illustration of Jean Rondeau and Mahan Esfahani by Peter Van Eenoge, “the rebel hapsichordists” as The New Yorker dubbed them. I’d already seen Esfahani three years ago in Leipzig, and last night was Rondeau’s turn... and it was fabulous. I’m still under the spell of his chaconne.

Julia Sophie Wagner (soprano) and the Ensemble Avantgarde—Peter Schurrock (clarinet), Andreas Seidel (violin), Veronika Wilhelm (violoncello), Steffen Schleiermacher (piano)—at the Grassi Museum for Messiaen’s Chants de Terre et de Ciel, followed by Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps. 

The final concert of Bachfest Leipzig 2023 is beginning as I post this, the traditional B minor Mass at the Thomaskirche marking the end of ten days of festivities.

Going there from 2015 to 2019, listening to about 40 concerts each year, has been a memorable experience. I'd long wanted to go there and regret not doing so sooner. Now that my health is failing I'm not sure if/when I'll go back again.