Bach: Jesu, menine Freude BWV 227
Collegium 1704; Václav Luks, Conductor
Bach: How shall I fitly meet Thee?
Ex Cathedra; Jeffrey Skidmore, Conductor
Saying goodnight with Albrecht Mayer playing Bach … what could be better? Here is is on oboe d’amore and English horn.
Here are the notes from the YouTube page (incorrectly saying he is playing oboe):
Experience oboe superstar Albrecht Mayer playing Bach’s Air from the Orchestra Suite in D Major, arranged for oboe and piano. Albrecht Mayer created the arrangement exclusively for this very special concert at Palais Lichtenau in Potsdam, Germany. Because Albrecht Mayer has a special relationship to Bach’s music, the oboist has deliberately chosen compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. In addition to the Air, Albrecht Mayer and his chamber music partner, Japanese pianist Kimiko Imani, play tenor aria No.7 from the Easter Oratorio, and the bass aria “Mache dich mein Herze rein” from the St. Matthew Passion.
In addition to the instrumentation, this concert is unusual because it was performed without an audience. DW Classical Music is offering a digital stage for some of the many classical music artists who are currently unable to perform for live audiences. The recordings are made by the artists themselves or by a single camera operator. Usually Albrecht Mayer plays in front of thousands. But in these times of the coronavirus crisis, star oboist Albrecht Mayer was very happy to accept our invitation to perform this private concert.
Albrecht Mayer has appeared as a soloist with such eminent conductors as Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2007 with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and is an enthusiastic chamber musician, playing with partners including Hélène Grimaud, Leif Ove Andsnes and Lars Vogt. He started playing with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1992, and has remained with them since, despite his growing renown as a concert soloist.
Albrecht Mayer plays an oboe d’amore and an English horn by German maker Gebrüder Mönnig.
Oh this is fun, and yet so moving … at least to me!
Bach to the Barre! Staying Home with TSO musicians & National Ballet of Canada dancers
Bach to the Barre! A charming and funny view of what #StayingHome looks like for dancers and musicians, created by long-time friends Timothy Dawson (TSO Double Bass) and Guillaume Côté & Heather Ogden, Principal Dancers at the National Ballet of Canada.
Because there is never too much Bach. And this time you also get fourteen violinists!
“Chaconne at home for 14 violinists”
Bach: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in d minor, BWV 1004
Recorded in April 2020
Concept: Julia Fischer
Video compilation: Augustin Hadelich
Cast in order of appearance:
Julia Fischer, Augustin Hadelich, Renaud Capuçon, Klaidi Sahatçi, Alexander, Sitkovetsky, Nicola Benedetti, Andreas Janke, Daniel Röhn, Lisa Batiashvili, Lena Neudauer, James Ehnes, Stefan Jackiw, Rudens Turku, Vadim Gluzman
I think a bit of Bach on this Wednesday morning is just the way to start!
L’Harmonie des saisons
Avril / April 2020
Jésus que ma joie demeure | Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Bach: Nun komm, der Heiden Heilland, BWV 62
Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra
From the YouTube page:
For two years, the Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra have been looking forward to performing at the St. Thomas Church during Bachfest Leipzig 2020 in June. Since the festival has now been postponed to 2022, we decided to make a virtual performance recording of a complete cantata – Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 62 – one of the three cantatas which we were going to perform at the festival. Here’s the opening chorus movement, and more to come.
We would like to especially thank our baritone Caleb Woo, who has spent much effort and incredible amount of time to compile, engineer, and produce the audio. We would also like to thank members of the Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra who voluntarily contributed to this very challenging recording project, even during this very trying time. Scenes of the St. Thomas Church seen throughout the video was filmed by our videographer Moses Lim. Our gratitude also extended to Carus-Verlag for sponsoring us the Urtext performance score.
May this recording bring much hope and joy to our friends both near and far, and we look forward so much to the day when we will actually perform at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
MALAYSIA BACH FESTIVAL SINGERS
Chew Shi Yun, Soprano (Kuala Lumpur)
Rachel Kwok, Soprano (Hong Kong)
Esther Ting, Soprano (New York)
Chia Wee Kiat, Alto (Boston)
Lee Mei Yen, Alto (Kuala Lumpur)
Chan Wei En, Alto (Singapore)
Okawa Tan, Tenor (Sarawak)
Pablo Willey-Bustos, Tenor (New York)
Caeleb Tee, Tenor (Kuala Lumpur)
Caleb Woo, Baritone (Hong Kong)
Bryan Sim, Baritone (Selangor)
Chin Vun Chieh, Baritone (Kuala Lumpur)
MALAYSIA BACH FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
Bernice Ooi, Concertmaster (Sweden)
Lee Hai Lin, Violin 1 (Kuala Lumpur)
Mabel Wong, Violin 1 (Kuala Lumpur)
Wong Lu Ee, Violin 2 (Kuala Lumpur)
Lisa Chia, Violin 2 (Kuala Lumpur)
Keng Xin Tian, Violin 2 (Kuala Lumpur)
Andrew Filmer, Viola (Kuala Lumpur)
Angela Lou, Viola (Kuala Lumpur)
Chong Eugene, Cello (Kuala Lumpur)
U-En Ng, Viola da gamba (Kuala Lumpur)
Clement Leong, Double bass (Kuching)
Nelson Wong, Oboe (Kuala Lumpur)
Shigeki Sasaki, Oboe (Japan)
Howard Ng, Oboe (Singapore)
Midori Suzuki, Bassoon (Japan)
David Chin, Conductor & Harpsichord (Selangor)
Through Music We Are Connected
Oh my, but he amazes me!
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Sonata #2 for Violin (BWV 1003), Allegro
*arrangement for oboe by Eugene Izotov*
More Bach, and this time featuring Katherine Needleman on oboe. And Katherine Needleman on piano.
Adagio from the Sinfonia of Bach’s Easter Oratorio
Of course Bach is wonderful ANY day!
Ex Cathedra
The third of our films for Holy Week, recorded from our own homes, is the final chorale from Bach’s St John Passion.
We were due to have performed this wonderful music at Symphony Hall today (our annual Good Friday performance), so we’re thrilled that our singers and period instrumentalists have generously volunteered their contributions so we can, in some way, perform together.
In his introductory video, Jeffrey explains the optimism and hope of this piece, particularly poignant at this time.
This video is offered free of charge during what is a financially devastating time for organisations like Ex Cathedra. If you have enjoyed the video, please support us if you can with a small donation: Help Us Thank you.
