Bach gets top billing at annual classical music fest

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This article was published 12/04/2024 (545 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bach is back.

Johann Sebastian Bach, that is. The German composer — whose music is often associated with the courtly gestures and palace intrigue of Europe in the 1700s — and the works of his peers will be the centre of attention again four centuries later for the weeklong Winnipeg Baroque Festival, which begins Sunday.

“This style of music is very refined. Music from the time of Shakespeare,” says Andrew Balfour, artistic director and resident composer of the Dead of Winter choral group. “These composers that we’re presenting are the highest level of Elizabethan music. They were the best of the best.”

Dead of Winter launches the nine-concert program on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Crescent Arts Centre with a show that will include music from the baroque era, as well as new works by Balfour, a Juno Award nominee for composing in 2023, and Yellowknife’s Carmen Braden, two-time Western Canadian Music Award winner for classical composer of the year.

Toronto countertenor Daniel Cabena and the Cardinal Consort of Viols, a Toronto quartet that performs with viola da gambas, Renaissance-era stringed instruments, join Dead of Winter, with Balfour and Mel Braun sharing conducting duties.

Male tenors and female sopranos are the celebrated voices in operas and classical music concerts in the 21st century, but 400 years ago, male countertenors, who were able to sing into the highest registers in music, were the stars of shows attended by kings and queens.

Think Sting singing the Police hit Roxanne or Michael Jackson doing Beat It for more contemporary pop examples of countertenor singing.

“Like Freddie Mercury, all those guys could sing super-high,” Balfour says. “In this context for this concert, it’s a particularly refined style that was courtly music, music that was sung at the highest levels.”

The love of Bach and his contemporaries doesn’t end there. A notable celebration will be the Bach Marathon, which takes place April 20 at 1 p.m. at Young United Church.

The concert’s title suggests a baroque-around-the-clock event, but instead is a come-and-go-as-you-want, pay-what-you-wish three-hour Bach-a-palooza presented by the Winnipeg chapter of the Royal Canadian College of Organists.

Beyond the use of the church’s Letourneau pipe organ, pianists, string players and flutists will perform Bach’s music during the concert, and Bach and his wife — or at least a Bach tribute artist in baroque costume — will host the show.

“I’m thinking about it as a Bach talent show,” says Nolan Kehler, a chorister with many city groups who is one of the festival’s organizers and a Dead of Winter board member. “It allows us to break down any elitism or expertise that people feel need to exist around the genre.”

The marathon is one of several instrumental concerts that are new to the festival in 2024.

This broader perspective means an opportunity to hear a solo performance by violinist Karl Stobbe, the concertmaster of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and associate concertmaster of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, who performs April 21 at 3 p.m. at the St. Andrews River Heights United Church.

Stobbe’s latest album, Ysaÿe, J.S. Bach & Paganini: Works for Solo Violin, which he released March 22, includes his rendition of Bach’s Violin Partita No. 1 in B Minor, BWV 1002.

“Karl Stobbe is an incredible violinist from the Winnipeg Symphony who is world-class,” Balfour says. “I feel we can showcase other things than just choral, and I hope we can continue to do that for future years.”

Tickets for five of the festival concerts, including the Dead of Winter kickoff and Stobbe’s show, cost $35 or $130 for a five-concert pass.

There are also free or pay-what-you can performances besides the Bach Marathon: the all-male choir All the King’s Men (Sunday, 7 p.m.); the choirs Proximus 5 and Nuovoce (April 18, 7:30 p.m.) and the All Saints Anglican Church Choir’s performance of Ascension Vespers (April 19, 7:30 p.m.). Tickets for all are available at winnipegbaroquefestival.com.

“We’re so proud of this festival. There’s so many local artists taking part. Students, professionals, people who just love this music,” Balfour says. “I think this is important for Winnipeg: a whole week of nice, beautiful music.”

Alan.Small@winnipegfreepress.com

X: @AlanDSmall