(c) Laurent Guizard Le Banquet Céleste: Oratoire du Louvre
Paris, Eglise de l'Oratoire du Louvre — Main Hall
About the Event
Reflection on death was of fundamental importance during the Baroque era, and Bach addressed this theme repeatedly in his cantatas. An early work yet already demonstrating absolute mastery, Cantata BWV 106, known as “Actus tragicus,” is directly linked to death, having been written in 1707 or 1708 for the funeral of an unnamed figure. By turns solemn, intense, and tender, this cantata must have been dear to Bach, since, ten years later, he employed a similar instrumentation (notably two expressive flutes) for Cantata BWV 161, which depicts a believer weary of the world’s depravity and longing for death. Bach is not the only one to evoke the Grim Reaper: his colleague and friend Telemann, in his cantata “Du aber Daniel,” offers a deeply moving lament also inspired by the death of an unknown figure.
Comprising an ensemble of exceptional singers and instrumentalists, Le Banquet Céleste continues its exploration of this fascinating world, in which it has established itself as an undisputed authority.
Program
Georg Philipp Telemann
Cantate TWV 4‐17 « Du aber Daniel, gehe hin »
Johann Sebastian Bach
Cantate BWV 106 « Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit » (Actus tragicus)
Cantate BWV 161 « Komm, du süßes Todesstunde »
Cast / Production
Hana Blažíková, soprano
tba, alto
Thomas Hobbs, tenor
Benoît Arnould, bass
Le Banquet Céleste
Address
Eglise de l'Oratoire du Louvre, 145, rue Saint‐Honoré, Paris, France — Google Maps
