89th Bach Festival: Slave stories and ‘Little Match Girl’

It’s time for the 89th annual Bach Festival, a mix of old and new. Returning favorites include the popular “Spiritual Spaces” and “Concertos by Candlelight” programs. A new visitor is the European ensemble Fuoco Obligato.

What am I most looking forward to? “Sanctuary Road,” a musical interpretation of narratives from enslaved African Americans, and “Literary Folk and Fairy Tales,” which includes a retelling of the classic “The Little Match Girl,” sung oratorio style.

Concerts are at Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave. in Winter Park, either in Knowles Memorial Chapel or Tietdke Concert Hall as noted below. Get more information at bachfestivalflorida.org.

Now, without further ado, here’s a chronological look at what’s ahead from the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park.

Organist Adam Brakel: 7:30 Feb. 2, Knowles Chapel. The Chicago Tribune has proclaimed Brakel “one of the most talented organists in the world,” and here’s your chance to decide for yourself — for free. As suits the festival, Brakel will play an all-Bach program.

His recital is made possible by Rollins College through the (take a deep breath) Faith Emeny Conger ’54 Visiting Organist Concert Series in Honor of John Oliver Rich ’38.

And if you like what you hear, you have more opportunities to experience his keyboard prowess: After becoming one of the youngest music directors of a cathedral at age 25, he most recently was named director of music for our own St. James Cathedral and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando.

Fuoco Obligato: 3 p.m. Feb. 3, Tiedtke Concert Hall. Based outside Paris near Versailles, Fuoco Obligato brings together the instrumental soloists of the prestigious Opera Fuoco and its young singers. The vocalists and chamber ensemble then explore the discourse between voice and instrument as they perform arias from baroque opera, oratorio and art songs.

‘The Splendor of Baroque Magnificats’: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 9, Knowles Chapel. The Bach Vocal Artists will perform songs of praise by Vivaldi, Telemann and others.

‘Spiritual Spaces’: 5 p.m. Feb. 10, Knowles Chapel. Designed to soothe the soul, think of this program as a megamix of restorative music. From Beethoven and Bach to Faure and Rutter, to John Williams’ “Schindler’s List” theme and Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes,” each melody has been chosen to refresh the weary listener.

‘Sanctuary Road’: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17 & 3 p.m. Feb. 18, Knowles Chapel. Paul Moravec composed the moving music of “Sanctuary Road,” for which librettist Mark Campbell interpreted the slave narratives published in 1872 in “The Underground Railroad” by William Still.

Dashon Burton, who performed on the Grammy-nominated recording of the work, will be the bass soloist. He is joined by soprano Laquita Mitchell, mezzo-soprano Melody Wilson, tenor Joshua Blue, baritone Benjamin Taylor and the Bach Festival Society Choir.

Also on the program: Symphony No. 1 in E Minor by Florence Price, recognized as the first female African American symphonic composer.

‘Concertos by Candlelight’: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24, Knowles Chapel. Pianist Alon Goldstein returns to Winter Park to play Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1. Other soloists are co-concertmasters Routa Kroumovitch-Gomez and Alvaro Gomez who lead Louis Spohr’s Sinfonia Concertante in A major for Two Violins, Op. 48.

‘J.S. Bach Magnificat in D Major and Handel Oratorios’: 3 p.m. Feb. 25, Knowles Chapel. Countertenor Brennan Hall, a graduate of Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando and Rollins College, is among the soloists, which also include soprano Anna Eschbach, mezzo-soprano Morgan Peckels, tenor John Grau and bass Stephen Mumbert.

‘Literary Folk and Fairy Tales’: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 29, Tiedtke Concert Hall. Four singers, who also play percussion instruments, tell an age-old tale in David Lang’s “The Little Match Girl Passion.”

Also on the program, which features the Bach Festival Youth Choir, is Richard Maltz’s “Aesop’s Fables.”

‘Rossini and Franck’: 3 p.m. March 3, Knowles Memorial Chapel. The Bach Festival Choir returns for a closing performance, which includes César Franck’s Symphony in D Minor and Gioacchino Rossini’s Stabat Mater, a source of inspiration to many composers with its poetic text about the Virgin Mary’s vigil at the foot of the cross.

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