Description
Bach never composed an opera. Yet there seems to be enough dramatic potential in his passions and cantatas. What if Bach had written an opera? This idea inspired the Netherlands Bach Society and OPERA2DAY to create J.S. Bach – The Apocalypse. This opera was created by parodying various works by J.S. Bach. The connecting music was newly composed by Panos Iliopoulos.
The opera tells the true story of anabaptist Jan van Leiden. In the sixteenth century, this actor, landlord and tailor became the leader of a movement that proclaimed the Apocalypse. A utopia was founded in Münster, which became radicalised and turned into a dictatorship. We experience from the inside how the timeless mechanisms of populism, polarisation and radicalisation do their job.
For more information on The Apocalypse and credits of this production go to https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-2021pi
For the short documentary 'Why a Bach opera?' go to https://youtu.be/YvYFLoDyrEI
Recorded for the project All of Bach on February 14 and 15, 2024 at Het Nationale Theater The Hague. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel https://bit.ly/2vhCeFB and consider donating https://bit.ly/3J5uprM.
All of Bach is a project of the Netherlands Bach Society, with the aim to perform and record all of Bach's works and share them online with the world for free. Visit our online treasury for more videos and background material on https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/allofbach. For concert dates and tickets go to https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/concerts.
OPERA2DAY and the Netherlands Bach Society
Serge van Veggel, concept and director
Hernán Schvartzman, conductor
Shunske Sato, idea and musical advisor
Panos Iliopoulos, composer
Thomas Höft, text
Florian Sievers (Jan van Leyden), tenor
Jobst Schnibbe (Heinrich Gresbeck), actor
James Hall (Bishop Franz von Waldeck/Jan Matthijsz), countertenor
Wolf Matthias Friedrich (Bernhard Knipperdollinck), bass-bariton
Georgia Burashko (Dieuwer Brouwersdochter), mezzo-soprano
Mattijs van de Woerd (Bernhard Rothmann), bariton
Kaspar Kröner (Henrick Hendricksz (Heuchelei)/Jacob Dusentschuer), countertenor
Wiebe-Pier Cnossen (Claes Janssen (Unschuld) / Bishop's Envoy / Chaplain Johannes Von Siberg), bass
Michaela Riener (Marijtje Ijsbrandsdochter / Elisabeth Wandscherer), soprano
Lauren Armishaw (Katharina), soprano
Emilie Weijers (woman in a rebellious group, scene 3), alto
For full credits see https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-2021pi
0:00 1. Execution of the Anabaptists
3:42 2. Gresbeck's Offer to the Bishop
7:59 3. Back in Time: Jan van Leiden Meets the Münster Rebels
18:00 4. In Café "De Witte Lelie" in Leiden: "On to Münster!"
30:20 5. The Anabaptists Capture Münster
44:46 6. The Fall of the Prophet Jan Matthijsz
49:34 7. The Establishment of the Anabaptist Kingdom
1:06:19 8. Münster Under Siege
1:10:53 9. The Seventeenth Wife
1:26:49 10. A Parody Mass
1:39:33 11. The Bishop Retakes the City
1:47:56 12. The Last Confession of Jan van Leiden
1:53:57 13. Execution of the Anabaptists
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