Cappella Andrea Barca
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Balthasar-Neumann-Choir
(Chorus Master: Detlef Bratschke)
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András Schiff
conductor
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Ruth Ziesak
soprano
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Britta Schwarz
alto
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Lothar Odinius
tenor
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Hanno Müller-Brachmann
bass-baritone
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Mass in B minor BWV 232
“Bach’s music is the most-important thing in my life,” observes András Schiff, adding that not a day goes by when he does not play this composer’s music at the keyboard. For him playing Bach represents “a spiritual and above all an intellectual necessity.” Naturally that has made an impact on his entire repertoire. “Every kind of music that fascinates me comes from Bach. If a composer has no connection to Bach, then he simply doesn’t interest me. Bach represents a musical world view, his works radiate a purity, clarity, and transparency such that each voice, each note, is important. With Bach nothing is subsidiary.” As a pianist, Schiff is second to none in the insight and understanding he brings to his performances of Bach’s music for keyboard instruments. Here he appears as a conductor to lead his exquisite Cappella Andrea Barca as they ascend the Mount Everest of choral music: namely, the B minor Mass, the summa of Bach’s entire artistic career, in which he drew on the musical legacy of the ages and even different religious denominations, combining them into a monumental work.