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Sun Apr 11, 2027 at 4 pm
Turku Music Centre Fuuga, Turku
Top European Choirs Series

Mon Apr 12, 2027 at 7 pm
Musiikkitalo, Helsinki
Top European Choirs Series

Wed May 5, 2027 at 7:30 pm
St. Peter's Church, Zürich

Thu May 6, 2027 at 7:30 pm
The French Church, Bern

The Infinite Bach

The Ascension Oratorio and other works

J.S. Bach

Serafina Starke, soprano
Ulrike Malotta, mezzo-soprano
Jan Petryka, tenor
André Morsch, bass
Zürcher Sing-Akademie
Finnish Baroque Orchestra
Florian Helgath, conductor

The long-awaited continuation of the European Top Choirs series is here! The previous collaboration between the Finnish Baroque Orchestra (FiBO) and the Zürcher Sing-Akademie in autumn 2025 delighted audiences and musicians alike, and the plans for the next joint project began to take shape already during the tour. The choir is now returning to Finland to perform together with FiBO and soloists, conducted by Florian Helgath. Together, they will guide the audience through the rich world of Johann Sebastian Bach's vocal music, where profound sorrow gives way to radiant light. The programme also features the rarely performed, touching Ascension Oratorio. The concerts are arranged in Turku, Helsinki, Zurich and Bern.

More than 200 of Bach's cantatas have survived, making them a significant part of his oeuvre. In them, the composer explored all aspects of human life. Some of the cantatas are secular, but Bach composed most of them to be performed in the churches in Leipzig. Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis dates back to Bach’s earlier Weimar period. It was performed again in 1723, shortly after Bach took up his post as director of the St Thomas Choir in Leipzig. The work is a lavish example of Bach's early cantata style. In the cantata's dramaturgy, unrelenting sorrow gives way to joy.

Bach's cantatas, oratorios and passions are also an endless journey of exploration into the instrumentation of the Baroque orchestra. Even the virtuoso motets, often perceived as only choral works, should be performed with the available instruments. This time, there is a rare opportunity to hear the motet Singet dem Herrn (c. 1726) with a full orchestra. In the piece, vocal rhetoric and instrumental texture blend seamlessly. It encapsulates all the sounds of creation.

The Ascension Oratorio (1738) is Bach's final oratorio. The Christmas Oratorio, composed four years earlier, was a monumental collection of six cantatas. This later miniature oratorio is a heartwarming gem. It is characterised by a concise narrative, a vibrant orchestration, and original compositional solutions. The profound depiction of the farewell is followed by the hope and expectation of a reunion.

In the European Top Choirs series, FiBO brought prominent international choirs to perform with the orchestra between 2022 and 2025, largely with the support of the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation. In this new instalment in the series, Bach's music is being given the interpreters it deserves.

Duration: 2 h (incl. intermission)

Pre-concert talks are arranged in Turku on 11 April, from 3 to 3.30 pm in the second-floor foyer of Fuuga, and in Helsinki on 12 April, from 6 to 6.30 pm in the main foyer of the Music Centre, adjacent to the café.