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In the years before his reputation as the opera composer du jour was forged, Handel poured his creativity into a series of increasingly adventurous cantatas, among the most ambitious of which is Apollo and Daphne. Inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, this ancient fable finds striking parallels with modern day power struggles, as Daphne fights to resist Apollo’s advances and transforms herself into a laurel tree, her branches watered forever by his tears. This extraordinary tale of passion and penitence is rendered…

In the years before his reputation as the opera composer du jour was forged, Handel poured his creativity into a series of increasingly adventurous cantatas, among the most ambitious of which is Apollo e Dafne. Inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, this ancient fable finds striking parallels with modern day power struggles, as Daphne fights to resist Apollo’s advances and transforms herself into a laurel tree, her branches watered forever by his tears. This extraordinary tale of passion and penitence is rendered…

The B Minor Mass is one of Bach’s greatest curiosities. A true piece of musical patchwork, this extraordinary amalgamation of arrangements, recomposed fragments and new ideas together spans more than 25 years of Bach’s career. And yet, Bach never heard it performed. Nor did he expect to - since it fits neither the Catholic or Protestant liturgy, its purpose remains tantalisingly elusive. But in its scale, ambition and dramatic, inexorable unfolding, the B Minor Mass remains one of his most…

From the intractable swell of the opening chorus to the profound solemnity of the last, its tone one of quiet resignation, the Matthew Passion is a work with the power to move us like no other. Bach conceived it on a grand scale, allowing for double chorus and double orchestra, and the themes it explores are just as monumental too. How each of us, of all faiths and none, can find joy and hope even amidst the depths of sorrow.…

From the intractable swell of the opening chorus to the profound solemnity of the last, its tone one of quiet resignation, the Matthew Passion is a work with the power to move us like no other. Bach conceived it on a grand scale, allowing for double chorus and double orchestra, and the themes it explores are just as monumental too. How each of us, of all faiths and none, can find joy and hope even amidst the depths of sorrow.…

Bach’s rich musical legacy as we know it today is partly the result of a historical accident. When he applied for the position of Kantor at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche in 1722, Bach was only third choice for the post. Telemann turned the offer down after some deliberation, and Graupner was not released from his post of Kapellmeister in Hesse. ‘Since we cannot get the best, then we will have to settle for average’, the Council concluded, as it handed the title…

Bach’s rich musical legacy as we know it today is partly the result of a historical accident. When he applied for the position of Kantor at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche in 1722, Bach was only third choice for the post. Telemann turned the offer down after some deliberation and Graupner was not released from his post of Kapellmeister in Hesse. ‘Since we cannot get the best, then we will have to settle for average’, the Council concluded, as it handed the title…

Bach’s rich musical legacy as we know it today is partly the result of a historical accident. When he applied for the position of Kantor at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche in 1722, Bach was only third choice for the post. Telemann turned the offer down after some deliberation and Graupner was not released from his post of Kapellmeister in Hesse. ‘Since we cannot get the best, then we will have to settle for average’, the Council concluded, as it handed the title…