Performer: Damien Guillon

Three beautiful cantatas from Bach and his Mass in F major made for a rewarding concert with the Bach Collegium Japan. Suzuki directs a thoughtful and heartfelt rendition and is joined by a quartet of excellent soloists. 

This Lenten concert given by Currentzis and MusicAeterna at Vienna’s Konzerthaus was certainly solemn and atmospheric – the auditorium was shrouded in darkness from beginning to end.

The Collegium Vocale Gent, in the hands of Philippe Herreweghe, came and conquered Madrid with a memorable performance of Bach's St John Passion.

Philip Herreweghe directs Schütz' Psalmen Davids with Collegium Vocale Gent at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, in a performance of sustained power and feeling.

The Christmas Oratorio is an odd work to perform in concert, but it makes a welcome change from the obligatory annual Messiah. Bach’s piece contains six separate cantatas that tell the traditional Nativity narrative, all subsumed under the broader theme.

On Saturday, Philippe Herreweghe conducted the season’s most solemn yet spectacular oratorio concert in New York – a performance of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Scored for two choirs, two orchestras, and soloists, this almost operatic depiction of Christ’s Passion was performed by Herreweghe’s Collegium Vocale Gent Choir and Orchestra.