J.S. Bach - The Apocalypse

the opera that Bach never wrote

On the occasion of the centenary of the Netherlands Bach Society, OPERA2DAY and the Bach Society present J.S. Bach – The Apocalypse: 'the opera that Bach never wrote'. A successor of Vivaldi - Dangerous Liaisons, the ‘new baroque opera’ by both partners, that was enthusiastically received by audience and press in 2019. In the words of the opera critic of Dutch newspaper the Volkskrant: “This combination of historicizing and innovative opera practice cannot be applauded loudly enough.”

J.S. Bach - The Apocalypse will tour from January through March 2022.

A dream comes true: on the occasion of the centenary of the Netherlands Bach Society, OPERA2DAY and the Bach Society present J.S. Bach – The Apocalypse: ‘the opera that Bach never wrote’.

For much of his life, Bach worked as a cantor in Leipzig, composing a great deal of church music. If things had turned out slightly different, he might also have become a celebrated opera composer. The dramatic power and radical innovations in his passions and cantatas even suggest that he may have conquered a unique place in opera history. With J.S. Bach – The Apocalypse you can hear what a Bach opera might have sounded like!

Bach's universal and timeless music, which so masterfully covers all aspects of human emotions, demands an equally dynamic libretto. An exciting story was found in the 16th century, an era full of natural disasters, violence and social discontent. J.S. Bach - The Apocalypse tells the story of Jan van Leyden. This Dutch actor, café owner and tailor, claimed that the end of time was near and convinced his followers that they could be the chosen ones at the Last Judgment. He subsequently crowned himself as king of a fundamentalist community in Münster, Germany, which soon evolved into a city-state under tyrannical leadership. Power, corruption and mass hysteria are at the heart of this almost archetypical chronicle of fundamentalism. The story therefore contains many parallels to our society today. The performances of the opera will be at the center of a range of activities exploring the theme, both in and outside the theatre.

The dramatic and musical scenario of J.S. Bach – The Apocalypse was developed by Serge van Veggel, artistic director of OPERA2DAY, and director of the performance. The leading German librettist Thomas Höft wrote the libretto. Composer Panos Iliopoulos, creator of a contemporary oeuvre as well as harpsichordist and baroque specialist, turns the opera - in which Bach's music plays the leading role - into a through-composed total. The musical direction is in the hands of Hernán Schvartzman, the musical director of OPERA2DAY.

J.S. Bach – The Apocalypse is a co-production of OPERA2DAY & the Netherlands Bach Society

ARTISTIC TEAM

MUSIC Johann Sebastian Bach, Panos Iliopoulos
LIBRETTO Thomas Höft
SCENARIO AND STAGE DIRECTION Serge van Veggel
MUSICAL DIRECTION Hernán Schvartzman
SCENOGRAPHY Herbert Janse
LIGHT DESIGN Uri Rapaport
TECHNICAL PRODUCTION Ronald Tebra
COSTUMES Mirjam Pater
HAIR & MAKE-UP Pilo Pilkes
ARTISTIC LEADER THE NETHERLANDS BACH SOCIETY Shunske Sato

CAST

JAN VAN LEYDEN Florian Sievers, tenor
BERNHARD KNIPPERDOLLINCK Wolf Matthias Friedrich, bass/baritone
BISSHOP / JAN MATTHIJSZ Sytse Buwalda, countertenor
DIEUWER BROUWERSDOCHTER Cecilia Amancay Pastawski, mezzo-soprano
BERNHARD ROTHMANN Mattijs van der Woerd, baritone
HENDRICK HENDRICKZ / JACOB DUSENTSCHUER Kaspar Kröner / Oscar Verhaar, countertenor
CLAES JANSSEN / ENVOY / PRIEST Wiebe-Pier Cnossen, baritone
MARIJTJE IJSBRANDSDOCHTER / ELISABETH WANDSCHERER Viola Blache, soprano
HEINRICH GRESBECK Jobst Schnibbe, actor

VOCAL ENSEMBLE AND ORCHESTRA Netherlands Bach Society