TheBachwoche Ansbach (Ansbach Bach Week) is a biennial music festival inAnsbach, Germany, dedicated to the life and works ofJohann Sebastian Bach, held since 1947. The main venues are the Orangerie and the great hall of the palaceResidenz Ansbach, and the churchesSt. Johannis andSt. Gumbertus. Renowned international have performed in Ansbach, includingYehudi Menuhin,Gidon Kremer,Mstislav Rostropovich,Ludwig Hoelscher,Ferdinand Leitner andKarl Richter. In recent years, guests have includedJohn Eliot Gardiner,Philippe Herreweghe,Ton Koopman,Andreas Staier,Martin Stadtfeld andMasaaki Suzuki.
In the first year, in 1947, the festival was held at the palaceSchloss Weißenstein in Pommersfelden.[1] In 1948, it was moved to the Ansbach and its palace.[2] theResidenz Ansbach (also called Markgrafenschloss), where concerts were held at the Orangerie in the garden Hofgarten and in the Festsaal (Great hall).
Other main venues are the churchesSt. Gumbertus andSt. Johannis.[3] A few concerts are offered in other halls. In the beginning the Munich art dealer Carl Weymar, the cellist Ludwig Hoelscher and the conductor Ferdinand Leitner invited friends to perform. They were able to attract guests such as violinistsWolfgang Schneiderhan and Yehudi Menuhin,[4] pianistWilhelm Kempff,[5] flutistAurèle Nicolet,[6] singersPeter Pears andDietrich Fischer-Dieskau.[7] An orchestra of soloists formed the backbone of the festival week. In 1955, Peter Pears was one of the first non-Germans invited, he appeared again in 1959, 1963 and 1964.[8]
From 1955 to 1964 the festival was directed by harpsichordist and conductor Karl Richter, originally an organist here.[8] His successor Rudolf Hetzer was able to win the city as a sponsor of the festival and began a biennial cycle in 1967.[1] Artist during this period includedNathan Milstein, Mstislav Rostropovich andNeville Marriner, orchestras The English Consort and the London Baroque Soloists, introducinghistorically informed performances.Saturday Review said in 1958, "The choir of the Bachwoche Ansbach is good, the recording excellent."[5]Helmuth Rilling conducted Bach'sMass in B minor in 1969 and again 40 years later, both times with theGächinger Kantorei and theBach-Collegium Stuttgart at St. Gumbertus.[9]
From 1979,Hans Georg Schäfer took over as director and led the festival for almost 20 years. He included music by Bach's sons,Claudio Monteverdi,Henry Purcell andHeinrich Schütz. He also showed contemporary composers in relation to Bach, such asPaul Hindemith,Witold Lutoslawski andArvo Pärt. He established an extra festival in 2000, the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, solely dedicated to Bach's music.[10] From 2001 Lotte Thaler was artistic director.[11] She set new standards by set themes ("Bach und Stravinsky"), included more music of the 20th century and included talks, children's concert and jazz.
Since 2006,Andreas Bomba has been the director, leading the 60 anniversary season in 2007.[12] The 2011 Bachwoche was opened with aBach cantata service in St. Gumbertus, including a performance ofWer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, BWV 93.[13] CantatasBWV 1,BWV 48,BWV 78,BWV 117,BWV 124,BWV 140 andBWV 147 were performed in concerts by theWindsbacher Knabenchor, conducted byKarl-Friedrich Beringer, with soloistsSibylla Rubens,Ingeborg Danz,Rebecca Martin,Markus Schäfer andKlaus Mertens. Artists have includedAndreas Scholl, theMünchner Kammerorchester and theEnsemble Resonanz.[3] The week was concluded with a performance of Bach'sMass in B minor by theDresdner Kammerchor and the Dresdner Barockorchester, conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann.[14]
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