Bach Cantatas

Time to enjoy some elevating music just before the Easter holiday. The Pharos Arts Foundation and the Goethe-Institut Zypern jointly present a concert with Bach Cantatas by the Camerata Crucianorum under the direction of Johannes Lang on the organ, featuring soprano Helene Lang and baritone Torsten Meyer. The concert will take place on Tuesday 23 April 2013 at Castelliotissa Hall at 8:30pm

Programme:
Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, BWV 199

Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, BWV 56

Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen, BWV 49

Having composed a great number of cantatas, J.S. Bach is considered the most prolific composer of the specific genre. It was while his stay in Leipzig, where he spent the last 27 years of his life and during his service as Kantor in four Lutheran churches, that Bach composed the majority of his sacred cantatas. In addition, he composed a great number of secular cantatas for social events, as well as chorale cantatas. Even though the majority of Bach’s cantatas employ four soloists, there are some wonderful cantatas for one or two singers.

Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut (My heart swims in blood), BWV 199
This is a solo cantata for soprano, which Bach composed in Weimar, while serving as a Concertmaster at the Court of Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar for the 11th Sunday after Trinity Sunday. Amongst his duties was the composition of a church cantata once a month (BWV 199 was the fifth cantata of the series). The piece is set on a text by Georg Christian Lehms, and it entails the struggle of sinner looking for redemption.

Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen (I will the cross-staff gladly carry), BWV 56
Bach composed this solo cantata for bass during his stay in Leipzig, in 1726. The piece was written for the 19th Sunday after Trinity, as part of the composer’s third annual cycle of cantatas. With direct references to the Gospel of Matthew, the cantata is set on a text by an anonymous poet, and it depicts a man’s torment while he is following the Christ and bearing his cross until his sins are forgiven and he is united with his Saviour.

Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen (I go and seek with longing), BWV 49
This solo cantata for soprano and bass, was also composed in 1726, for the 20th Sunday after Trinity. The cantata, is set on a text by an anonymous poet, and it is based on Matthew’s parable of the great banquet. Termed as “Dialogus", the piece presents an allegory of a wedding feast, where a dialogue unreels between Jesus and the Soul (His bride).

Camerata Crucianorum
Gustavs Fridrihsons /oboe
Dóra Szilágyi /violin I
Anaïs Soucaille / violin II
Florent Laplanche / viola
Eva Catharina van Ooij / cello
Konstantin Uhrmeister / double-bass

The ensemble Camerata Crucianorum is an international ensemble founded in 2011. It is the ensemble in residence at the Kreuzkirche Freiburg, Germany, performing various forms of music, especially classical concerts and church services. Its special feature is that all musicians are familiar with playing both original Baroque and modern instruments. The members of the ensemble are all students or former students of the Freiburg University of Music and come from various countries all over Europe like Norway, Hungary, France and the Netherlands. Their repertoire ranges from Dieterich Buxtehude to Max Reger including many works of the choir-symphonic repertoire and symphonic works of the early Classical era. The ensemble pursues the aim of enlivening music of all epochs by combining period instruments with deep, historically informed interpretations.

Johannes Lang / organ, direction
Born in Düsseldorf, Johannes Lang has been studying harpsichord with Prof. Dr. Robert Hill and church music at the University of Music in Freiburg, Germany. Earlier on, he had studied the piano with Eveline Vinh-Marinelli and at the age of 16 he had been accepted as a student for pre-college courses at the Freiburg Young Musician Academy of the Freiburg University of Music. After receiving eleven First Prizes in the categories organ, harpsichord and piano at the National Youth Competition of Germany “Bundeswettbewerb Jugend musiziert” he won the illustrious Organ Competitions of Lübeck (2009), Bellelay (2011) and Leipzig (2012) and was also awarded prizes at the Organ Competitions in Ljubljana (2007), Herford (2008) and at the international ARD-Competition in Munich 2011. He is a fellow of the German National Academic Foundation and the German Foundation of Music and he was appointed member of the jury in the 2012 Bundeswettbewerb competition. Johannes Lang also serves as cantor and organist at the Kreuzkirche Freiburg and has given many concerts playing the organ, harpsichord and piano as well as chamber music both in his home country and abroad. His work as a versatile musician is documented on many CD recordings, as well as radio and TV productions. In fall 2013, he will be recording a CD with J. S. Bach’s organ works for the well-known Genuin label.

Helene Lang / soprano
German soprano Helene Lang studied at the Opera Studio of The Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen with Susanna Eken. She has appeared as Amor / Pallade in Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea and Adelige Waise in Der Rosenkavalier at The Royal Danish Opera as well as Euridice in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, the vixen in Janaček's The Cunning Little Vixen, and Pamina in The Magic Flute. She has sung concerts with many well-known orchestras such as the London Sinfonietta, the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, and the Collegium Musicum Heidelberg. She has collaborated with conductors such as Michael Schonwandt, Christian Badea, Tobias Ringborg, David Porcelijn and Martin Nagashima Toft. In the field of contemporary music, Helene Lang has sung world premieres of works by Ylva Lund Bergner, Nicolai Worsaae, Tilo Medek, and Kaspar Winding. She founded the cabaret ensemble Kurt Weill Factory, which has performed in several established venues in both Denmark and Germany. She won first prize in the national German music competition, “Bundeswettbewerb Jugend musiziert”.

Torsten Meyer / baritone
The German baritone Torsten Meyer has established himself internationally as a versatile soloist and recitalist. While maintaining a predilection and close affinity for the vocal works of J. S. Bach, his repertoire ranges from classical masses and oratorios to the vocal and choral works of Rossini, Mendelssohn and Brahms. Critics have especially praised the intensity of his singing, the depth of his interpretations and his excellent diction. As a recitalist he is also known for researching and presenting lesser-known repertoire and has collaborated with pianists Neil Beardmore, Gráinne Dunne, and Gerrit Zitterbart. He also performs regularly with organist Martin Schmeding, with whom he recently recorded Victor Ullmann’s melodrama Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke (The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christoph Rilke), scheduled for release later this year. Meyer has been a part of many radio, TV and CD recordings with repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to contemporary modern music, with the Abegg Trio and the Hannover Brahms Choir. As an ensemble singer he has performed with the Rheinische Kantorei, the Schola Heidelberg and the Bach Vocal Soloists of Cologne both in Germany and in international tours to Israel, USA, South America and Europe. Torsten Meyer’s diploma in Vocal Performance is from the Hannover Academy of Music and Drama where his primary teacher was Carol Richardson-Smith. In addition to his vocal studies, he also earned diplomas in Church Music and music education. While studying he was a fellow of the German Business Academic Foundation and the Richard Wagner Society in Hannover. In addition to his career as a vocal soloist, he served as cantor and organist of a large congregation and district in Hannover, where he was the recipient of an award for his extraordinary contributions to church music. The City of Hannover also recognized his special dedication to the city and its residents by presenting him with a Special Award in 2008. After several teaching appointments in northern Germany, Torsten Meyer accepted the position of Professor of Voice and Ensemble Singing at the Academy of Music Freiburg in 2009.

Tickets:
€10
Box Office: Tel. 7000-9304 (daily 9.30-11.30am) / www.pharostickets.org