MASAAKI SUZUKI MAKES DEBUT WITH MONTEVERDI CHOIR & ENGLISH BAROQUE SOLOISTS IN LANDMARK BACH CELEBRATION
19 June, St Martin-in-the-Fields, 7.30pm
Masaaki Suzuki © Marco Borggreve
Renowned Bach specialist Masaaki Suzuki joins the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists for the first time in a celebration of J.S. Bach’s 1725 Cantatas, marking 300 years since their composition during Bach’s tenure as Thomaskantor in Leipzig.
This eagerly anticipated collaboration brings together one of today’s foremost interpreters of Bach with an ensemble internationally acclaimed for its six decades of groundbreaking performances of the composer’s work.
In a rare guest appearance in London, Suzuki leads a distinguished group of handpicked soloists, including Carolyn Sampson, Rebecca Leggett, Guy Cutting, and Matthias Winckhler.
He says: “There is something electrifying about making music with an ensemble whose DNA is so closely entwined with Bach’s. The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists have helped to shape the world’s understanding of this music for decades. To collaborate with them and such wonderful soloists on these radiant 1725 cantatas, works that reveal Bach at his most daring and devotional, is both humbling and exhilarating. I look forward to the energy, the insight, and, I hope, the surprises we will discover together.”
This performance is part of the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras’ ongoing series of collaborations with leading international conductors, each offering fresh insights into the repertoire for which they are celebrated. Recent projects have featured Marc Minkowski in Mozart, Christophe Rousset in Charpentier, and Jonathan Sells in Bruckner and Gesualdo.
Forthcoming highlights see Sells return for Baroque choral repertoire at the Edinburgh International Festival in August (where the Monteverdi Choir also takes a prominent role in a major performance of Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple), followed by Pablo Heras-Casado conducting Schubert and Mozart in September, and Jakob Lehmann in Rossini in October.
Dr Rosa Solinas, General Director of Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras, says: “Bringing Masaaki Suzuki together with our ensembles for these extraordinary cantatas is exactly the kind of exciting exploration that defines MCO today. With a busy international season, ever-expanding repertoire, exceptional collaborations, and a foundation of meticulous research and powerful musicianship, we’re continuing to build something truly exceptional.”