Baroque days in Melk: Maria moves with Bach and a festival of song!

Baroque days in Melk: Maria moves with Bach and a festival of song!

The International Baroque Days at Melk Abbey began with an impressive opening on Friday evening in the collegiate church. Under the motto “Maria moves…” the festival opened with two settings of the “Magnificat” – one by Johann Sebastian Bach and the other by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach ( oe24 ). Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado led the Concentus Musicus and Collegium Vocale 1704 from Prague that evening, with the vocals and orchestra working together in excellent harmony.

Director Michael Schade portrayed the biblical Mary as a timeless female figure with revolutionary potential. Johann Sebastian Bach's “Magnificat”, which is considered the cornerstone of the Baroque repertoire, was performed with great attention. The rarely played setting by C. P. E. Bach, composed in Berlin in 1749, also received the attention it deserved this evening ( Wikipedia ). This composer's first major choral composition is often overlooked, but Schade has brought it back to the stage and thus brought it into focus.

The performance and its cast

The solo parts were performed by a talented cast including Nuria Rial and Shira Patchornik (soprano), Sophie Harmsen (alto), Michael Schade (tenor) and Johannes Kammler (bass). The concert was broadcast live by Ö1, and to the delight of viewers, the TV broadcast will be shown on Sunday, June 8th, by ORF III at 8:15 p.m. and on June 15th by 3sat at 11:20 a.m. ( oe24 ).

A CD recording of the concert will be released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2026. The Baroque Days last until Whit Monday and follow the main theme. Planned events include a picnic concert entitled “Leyersederin 1761” in the monastery park and a new setting of the Melker Marienlied by Johannes Schachtner. The final climax will take place on Whit Monday with the Munich Court Orchestra and mezzo-soprano Olivia Vermeulen under the title “Salve Regina!” instead of. The program includes works by Ferrandini, Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Biber, Scarlatti and Handel.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and his legacy

C. P. E. Bach, born on March 8, 1714 in Weimar and died on December 14, 1788 in Hamburg, was known as the fifth child of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. As the main representative of the sensitive style, he is considered an influential composer whose piano music is seen as a forerunner of romantic expressiveness. In Berlin and Hamburg he left an important musical legacy and was admired by contemporaries such as Haydn and Mozart ( Wikipedia ).

His Magnificat, which consists of nine movements, was not only used as part of the church service, but also gave insight into the musical developments of his time. C. P. E. Bach combined his father's Baroque style with the emerging classicism and continues to shape the musical landscape to this day Wikipedia.