Masaaki Suzuki conducts Bach's Mass in B minor
With the Bach Collegium Japan
Cast
Aki Matsui — Soprano
Hana Blažíková — Soprano
Benno Schachtner — Alto
Makoto Sakurada — Tenor
Dominik Wörner — Bass
Bach Collegium Japan — Orchestra
Masaaki Suzuki — Conductor
Program notes
The year 2023 marks the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach's appointment as music director (or Thomaskantor) of The St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. To celebrate the occasion, Masaaki Suzuki conducts the Bach Collegium Japan in the Mass in B Minor, an essential work of religious music, at the 2023 Bach Festival held in the historic church.
As part of his duties as music director, Bach was responsible for composing all of the liturgical music for the city’s two churches, while also providing musical instruction to the boys at the St. Thomas School. The ongoing tension between the composer and his superiors pushed him to compose a colossal work that showcased the full scope of his talents. Over twenty years, he gathered and reworked some of the most beautiful pieces he had written throughout his career, but it was only at the end of his life that he was able to complete the Mass. A true testament to Bach’s genius and his own personal spirituality, this work is now considered one of the composer’s most emblematic.
Photo © Gert Mothes
