René Jacobs and the Akademie für Alte Musik / BTF 2017

Bach: St. Matthew Passion

Featuring: Sunhae Im, Anja Petersen, Benno Schachtner, Kristina Hammarström, Julian Prégardien, Minsub Hong, Johannes Weisser, Jonathan de la Paz Zaens – voice, RIAS Kammerchor

René Jacobs, who started his career as a singer, and then rose to the top echelon of conductors specializing in old music, is known as a musician who likes to explore and often makes surprising discoveries. His concerts are guaranteed to throw a new light on even the best-known compositions.

When he held a choral course in Budapest two years ago, he offered a vivid description of what kind of a relationship it was possible to maintain with Bach’s art. “You don’t need to be a believer” to carry out a good performance of Bach, “it’s enough to envy those who believe.” He also said that “singing Bach is taking a class in humility, because his music has no room for vanity.”

In an interview he said: “Important and necessary as it is to study what the performance of a piece was once like, it cannot be the basis of your interpretation. If that is all you consider, your interpretation will be atrocious, a mere alibi, something that hides the fact you have no personality and imagination. Like Harnoncourt, I too think I can’t do authentic Bach – all I can do is authentic Jacobs.”