New issue of J.S. Bach international music festival to be held in Moldovan capital

Chisinau, 10 April /MOLDPRES/ - The Chisinau-based Organ Hall and the J.S. Bach Cultural Foundation bring the International Music Festival J.S. Bach to the forefront of the cultural events. The festival is at its ninth issue, held on 11-19 April.  

The director of the Organ Hall, Larisa Zubcu, has told MOLDPRES that the festival was one of the far-reaching projects of the institution. “The audience is waiting for this festival, despite the financial difficulties we are facing. Each year, we present a special programme. We have recently restored a harpsichord, at which a graduate of the P.I. Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatoire, Sergey Konstantinov, used to sing,” Zubcu noted.      

According to Larisa Zubcu, this year, the festival presents four concerts, with outstanding guests from Italy, Russia, Monaco, meant to attract a wider audience to the magic and beauty of Bach’s music and the classical music, in general.

The opening of the festival will take place on 11 April, with a topic-related concert – Bach and the Italians, with the participation of the National Chamber Orchestra, led by master Cristian Florea (Romania-Germany), having as soloist a well-known Italian oboist Luca Vignali – the first oboe player of the Orchestra of the Rome-based Opera House. The programme contains works by J.S. Bach, A. Vivaldi, A. Marcello, G.B. Platti, G.B. Pergolesi.     

On 13 April, the festival’s agenda proposes a jazz evening – a tradition of the event, as Bach was known as a matchless improviser. Vintskevich – Andrianov Trio of Russia, a band made up of three outstanding personalities of the Russian stage, Boris Adrianov (cello), Leonid Vintskevich (piano) and Nick Vintskevich (saxophone), seconded by a Moldovan percussionist Petru Moiseev, will present the programme, Bach – Jazz Reflections, made up of jazz improvisations on topics of the famous suites for cello by Bach and other subjects.      

On 16 April, the festival will continue with an unusual organ recital, for the first time ever given for Chisinau by a duet of organ players from Monaco – an organist of the Monaco Cathedral, Olivier Vernet, and Cedric Meckler. They will sing works signed by members of the Bach dynasty. It is known that four out of those 21 children of Bach were composers and singers.     

The festival will end on 19 April and will culminate with an imposing vocal and symphony concert. The participants will sing fragments of the fundamental work Arta Fugii by J.S. Bach, as well as a monumental work, Lumières – Baroque Mass for the 21st Century, by Jacques Loussier -  a contemporary French composer, who is famous worldwide for his jazz-style adaptations of Bach’s works. This work is regarded as a tribute paid to the great Bach and proves the influence it had on the composers from all times. All artistic forces of the Organ Hall will be got involved in the carrying out of the festival – National Chamber Orchestra, National Chamber Choir, conducted by Ilona Stepan, and artists of the National Opera Ana Cernicova (soprano) and Lilia Istrati (mezzo-soprano). Cristian Florea is conductor.      

The festival is carried out with the financial support of the Education, Culture and Research Ministry, in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy in Chisinau. The concerts begin at 18:00. The price of the tickets varies between 100 and 200 lei.