On Monday, August 4, I took the train from Frankfurt to Weimar to begin my work with the Weimar Bach Cantata Academy. Weimar is about 160 miles northwest of Frankfurt, 50 miles south of Leipzig, and about halfway between Frankfurt and Berlin. The orchestra and choir are staying together in the wonderful, four star Dorint Hotel located in the city center.
Helmuth Rilling is the conductor and I serve as chorus master for the Bach Cantata Academy. We have assembled an international group of university-age students from twenty countries for a series of master classes, lecture concerts and performances. The ensemble includes participants from Argentina, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, Japan, Germany and the USA.
Our work will focus on the cantatas Johann Sebastian Bach composed when he lived and worked in Weimar, including "Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret" BWV 31, "Weinen, Klagen, Surgeon, Zage" BWV 12, "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" BWV 61, "Christen, ätzet diesen Tag" BWV 63, "Nach Dir, Herr, verlanget mich" BWV 150, "Erschallet, Ihr Lieder" BWV 172 and "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis" BWV 21. Our local host organization is the Franz Liszt Music Conservatory, which has about 850 music students of university age.
Tuesday evening was my first opportunity to meet with the Bach ensemble choir. Our home base is Die Hochschule für Musik FRANZ LISZT Weimar (The LISZT SCHOOL of Music Weimar), which is where we rehearse and spend most of our time.
The week's rehearsal schedule involves three rehearsals a day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., from 3-6 p.m. and from 7:30-9:30 or 10 p.m. in a beautiful, spacious rehearsal room. Meals are all together at a Spanish restaurant near the school. There is always enough time after the meal for a walk, coffee or ice cream. In the evening after rehearsal, the ensemble members may meet in the hotel spa to sit in the whirl pool or steam and/or at a local pub for a beer and pommes frites. While we work hard during the day, we also have time for relaxation and fun!
What is Weimar like?
Weimar is a charming town of about 65,000 in central Thuringia. It has been beautifully renovated and restored since German reunification in 1989, and was selected as the European Capital of Culture in 1999. The city was the focal point of the German enlightenment, and the home of several noted artists over the centuries, including Goethe, Schiller, Kandinsky, Klee, and Gropius. Several parts of town have now been designated UNESCO World Heritage sites. The foundations of the city date back to 899 (!!) and the name originally meant "holy swamp", (as in "Holy Swamp, Batman!). The Protestant Reformation was introduced here in 1525, and Martin Luther stayed in town several times. In more recent centuries, Weimar has been considered a showcase for high culture. Also, after WWI, the new German constitution was written here, which is why the government from that time period was known as the "Weimar Republic".
When the Nazis came to power, the regional government was one of the first to he taken over by the Nazis, and Weimar became a center for Nazism. In the early 1930's, Nazis established the first concentration camps nearby, where they jailed socialists, communists and other "undesirables", even before the later harassment, internment and destruction of Jews.
Modern day Weimar has an extraordinarily rich selection of museums, libraries, churches, castles and palaces, and I hope to visit some of them! Bayer pharmaceuticals has a plant here, as does Coca Cola, and I am not currently planning to fit them into my schedule.
The week's rehearsal schedule involves three rehearsals a day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., from 3-6 p.m. and from 7:30-9:30 or 10 p.m. in a beautiful, spacious rehearsal room. Meals are all together at a Spanish restaurant near the school. There is always enough time after the meal for a walk, coffee or ice cream. In the evening after rehearsal, the ensemble members may meet in the hotel spa to sit in the whirl pool or steam and/or at a local pub for a beer and pommes frites. While we work hard during the day, we also have time for relaxation and fun!
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| The Franz Liszt Music Conservatory - our hosts! |
What is Weimar like?
Weimar is a charming town of about 65,000 in central Thuringia. It has been beautifully renovated and restored since German reunification in 1989, and was selected as the European Capital of Culture in 1999. The city was the focal point of the German enlightenment, and the home of several noted artists over the centuries, including Goethe, Schiller, Kandinsky, Klee, and Gropius. Several parts of town have now been designated UNESCO World Heritage sites. The foundations of the city date back to 899 (!!) and the name originally meant "holy swamp", (as in "Holy Swamp, Batman!). The Protestant Reformation was introduced here in 1525, and Martin Luther stayed in town several times. In more recent centuries, Weimar has been considered a showcase for high culture. Also, after WWI, the new German constitution was written here, which is why the government from that time period was known as the "Weimar Republic".
When the Nazis came to power, the regional government was one of the first to he taken over by the Nazis, and Weimar became a center for Nazism. In the early 1930's, Nazis established the first concentration camps nearby, where they jailed socialists, communists and other "undesirables", even before the later harassment, internment and destruction of Jews.
Modern day Weimar has an extraordinarily rich selection of museums, libraries, churches, castles and palaces, and I hope to visit some of them! Bayer pharmaceuticals has a plant here, as does Coca Cola, and I am not currently planning to fit them into my schedule.
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