BUSIEST SEASON EVER SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDED AT BACHFEST LEIPZIG
Last season was our busiest ever. With our own production J.S. Bach - The Apocalypse, and the co-productions Song of the dark forest and Mozart's Zauberflöte - the next generation, we played 100 performances in 35 cities that attracted over 45,500 visitors. We also made the podcast series Jan van Leiden and the end of times, which was downloaded more than 158,000 times.
J.S. BACH - THE APOCALYPSE
With the Netherlands Bach Society, we toured major venues in 17 cities with J.S. Bach - The Apocalypse. What started as an idea in 2019 concluded on 10 and 11 June at the Bachfest Leipzig, the hometown of the great master. We were cheered by the audience and treated to minutes of applause.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
The press was also present in Leipzig in large numbers, finding their way to the performance. 'Hernán Schartzman, with the Netherlands Bach Society, extracts the maximum drama from the Bach parts' said the Leipziger Volkszeitung. 'The lush countertenor James Hall, who lends his voice to both Bishop Franz von Waldeck and the revolutionary prophet Jan Matthijsz, the sopranos Michaela Riener and Lauren Armishaw, the vast majority of the many other soloists and the Bachvereniging choir, which is also convincing scenically, leave nothing to be desired'.
'AMAZED'
Spanish newspaper El País is positive about the performance and the concept: 'Both Serge van Veggel's staging and Hernán Schvartzman's musical direction keep the audience constantly enthralled' to conclude the review with: 'Performed at the Leipzig Opera for a predominantly young audience, Die Apokalypse is a highly recommended opportunity to hear Bach's music in an opera theatre, however much some may get excited at the mere thought'.
Finally, the Süddeutsche Zeiting finds that 'the opera Bach never wrote' is 'an experiment' that 'will not only astonish musicologists'. The newspaper points out the parallels with contemporary political developments. 'It is amazing how precisely these political processes are made visible in this Bach opera. At least as surprising is how Bach's original music from all kinds of works - from the St Matthew Passion to the Hohe Mass - manages to draw very precisely the emotionally triggered course of those political processes and often anticipates their development.'
SONG OF THE DARK FOREST
Song of the dark forest premiered at the end of October 2023. This performance, a co-production with the DoelenEnsemble and Scapino Rotterdam, sang the tragic story of war. An unknown soldier, hovering between life and death, longs to return to his loved ones but is also haunted by memories of the battlefield. With poignant songs and dance by four choreographers, this timeless story comes to life.
MOZART'S ZAUBERFLÖTE - THE NEXT GENERATION
We kicked off the season with the continuation of the tour of Mozart's Zauberflöte - the next generation, which we made together with the Theatre Alliance. The performance created a lot of excitement among the audience. Never before have we experienced a performance where there was so much exuberant laughter, but also a tear was shed. 'Haven't seen such an entertaining, musical and humorous play in ages. Lots of laughs!", said one of the visitors.