Singing Bach: The great Leipzig audition

“What an unforgettable evening Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew offered us (…)! The program ‘Bach and The Great Leipzig Audition’ was not just a concert, it was a fascinating journey to the heart of a pivotal moment in music history: the legendary 1723 competition for the position of Cantor in Leipzig.” ClassiqueNews

Today, Bach appears to us as a major and indisputable figure in the history of music. To imagine that he could have suffered in comparison with his contemporaries seems improbable; and yet... 

When he applied for the post of Kantor of St. Thomas's Church in Leipzig in 1723, Bach was not the preferred candidate. The first choice was Christoph Graupner, but Graupner turned down the offer, preferring instead the Prince of Hesse-Darmstad. The renowned and prolific Georg Philip Telemann, founder of Leipzig's Collegium Musicum and a friend of Bach's, applied - only to withdraw almost immediately and turn to Hamburg. This left only Johann Sebastian Bach, with whom St. Thomas had to be content... and it was there, at the age of thirty-eight, that the composer premiered the first version of his St. John Passion for Holy Week. 

For this concert, Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants plunge into the musical world of the time, imagining a "great audition" to decide between Bach and his contemporaries. A fictional reconstruction, featuring cantatas... and a digest of the finest German music in the early 18th century. 

At the Philharmonie de Paris, a participatory "encore" will invite concert-goers to sing one of the arias on the program with the singers and instrumentalists of Les Arts Florissants, making this an unforgettable experience!

Concert recorded by France Musique on September 27, 2024 at the Festival d'Ambronay