Bach B-Minor Mass - Tafelmusik : Tafelmusik

Massey Hall

May 5, 2022 7:30 pm

Online Concert Hall

May 6, 2022 7:30 pm

Masaaki Suzuki directs Bach’s profound work of transcendent spirituality at Massey Hall.

The multi-award-winning conductor and Bach specialist Masaaki Suzuki returns as guest director for one of the great masterpieces of Western art music, Bach’s Mass in B Minor.

Towards the end of his life, Bach compiled a series of masterworks which would represent the culmination of almost four decades of his compositional endeavours. The last of these was the B-Minor Mass — a coherent, monumental work of great dramatic impact that was never performed in its entirety in the composer’s lifetime.

Performing in the newly revitalized Massey Hall, Tafelmusik Choir and Orchestra will be joined by a stellar cast of soloists, including Joanne Lunn, soprano; Tim Mead, countertenor; Thomas Hobbs, tenor; and Jonathon Adams, baritone.

Box Office

Massey Hall

(416) 872-4255 | Email

Running Time

About 150 minutes

Style of Music

Baroque, Chorale

Guest artists

Masaaki Suzuki

Director

Since founding Bach Collegium Japan in 1990, Masaaki Suzuki has established himself as a leading authority on the works of Bach. He has remained their Music Director ever since, taking them around the world and establishing an outstanding reputation for the expressive refinement and truth of his performances.

In addition to working with renowned period ensembles such as Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Phiharmonia Baroque, Suzuki has been invited to conduct repertoire as diverse as Brahms, Britten, Fauré, Mahler, Mendelssohn, and Stravinsky with orchestras such as the Barian Radio, Danish National Radio Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and the San Francisco, Sydney, and Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra. Masaaki Suzuki combines his conducting career with his work as organist and harpsichordist.

Suzuki’s impressive discography on the BIS label, featuring all of Bach’s major choral works as well as the complete church cantatas and complete works for harpsichord, has brought him many critical plaudits. In 2012 Suzuki was awarded with the Leipzig Bach Medal, and in 2013 the Royal Academy of Music Bach Prize. In April 2001, he was decorated with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Masaaki Suzuki made his debut with Tafelmusik in 2018, conducting Bach’s St Matthew Passion, and we’re thrilled to have him back.

Joanne Lunn

Soprano

Joanne Lunn is one of Britain’s leading baroque sopranos, in great demand throughout Europe, the US, and Asia, and known and respected for her warm sound, impressive coloratura, and attention to the words. Bach is a real love and joy for her in her career. She was part of the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in the year 2000 with John Eliot Gardiner and now regularly works with groups such as Bach Collegium Japan, The Dunedin Consort, Tafelmusik, and Concerto Copenhagen—with whom she recorded Bach’s St John Passion in April 2021. Highlights of this season include several performances of Bach’s Mass in B Minor (Knabenchor Hannover, Oregon Bach Festival, and Tafelmusik), as well as Steffani’s La Lotta d’Hercole (Musica Alpa Ripa Hannover), Monteverdi’s Vespers at London’s Wigmore Hall (La Nuova Musica), Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (Concerto Copenhagen), Mozart Requiem (Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra), and a US tour of Bach cantatas with the Dunedin Consort.

Tim Mead

Countertenor

Highlights of the British tenor Tim Mead’s 2021-22 season include Handel Messiah with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, La Chapelle Harmonique, Royal Northern Sinfonia, and Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, Bach St Matthew Passion with Collegium Vocale Gent, and Bach cantatas with Arcangelo, La Folia Barockorchester, and the Gabrieli Consort. Recent highlights include the BBC Proms, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and tours with The English Concert (Asia) and Le Concert d’Astrée (Europe). Recent appearances on the opera stage include Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, English National Opera, Teatro Real (Madrid), Bergen National Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Opera Vlaanderen, and Opera Philadelphia. Recent additions to his discography include Pergolesi Stabat Mater and Bach cantats with La Nuova Musica, and Purcell Songs with Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien.

Tim Mead read Music as a choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, before continuing his vocal studies at the Royal College of Music.

Thomas Hobbs

Tenor

British tenor Thomas Hobbs is in high demand with many leading baroque and early music ensembles. Highlights of this season include numerous performances of Bach: cantatas with Gli Angeli Geneva, Netherlands Bach Society, Les Arts Florissants, and others; Christmas Oratorio with Concerto Copenhagen, and St Matthew Passion, with Il Gardellino and Bach Collegium Japan. Recent highlights include various projects with Collegium Vocale Ghent (Herreweghe), Academy of Ancient Music, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Opera roles include Telemachus in The Return of Ulysses for English National Opera conducted by Jonathan Cohen, Apollo and Shepherd in Monteverdi’s Orfeo with Richard Egarr and the Academy of Ancient Music, the title role in Albert Herring, and Ferrando in Così fan tutte. His extensive discography includes Bach B-Minor Mass with both Collegium Vocale Gent and Dunedin Consort.

Jonathon Adams

Baritone

Born in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta), Jonathon Adams is a Cree-Métis baritone. They have appeared as a soloist with Philippe Herreweghe, Sigiswald Kuijken, Vox Luminis, Servir Antico, and B’Rock Orchestra at Opera-Ballet Flanders. In 2021 Jonathon was named the first ever artist-in-residence at Early Music Vancouver. They are also featured in the film MESSIAH/COMPLEX created by Against the Grain Theatre and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Future solo engagements include performances with the New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony under Masaaki Suzuki, Tafelmusik, Les Délices, il Gardellino, TENET Vocal Artists, Washington Bach Consort, the Toronto and Vancouver Bach Festivals, and the Portland Baroque Orchestra.

Jonathon attended The Royal Academy of Music and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and studied with Nancy Argenta, Emma Kirkby, and Edith Wiens. In addition to performing, Jonathon offers an annual workshop for singers at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in e’se’katik (Lunenburg, Nova Scotia).

Credits

Ivars Taurins director
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
Joanne Lunn soprano
Tim Mead countertenor
Thomas Hobbs tenor
Jonathon Adams baritone

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach Mass in B Minor

What to expect from a live concert

Here’s what you can expect from your in-person concert experience:

Signs to help you find your way and keep you safe
Helpful and informed Front of House staff
Programs sent in advance by email and available by QR code at the concert
Fantastic acoustics and beautiful music!

Tafelmusik operates in accordance with public health mandates and venue policies. Physical distancing in indoor settings has been eliminated, as has the need to provide proof of vaccination for public entry to venues. Masking is also not required, but strongly recommended in indoor settings. Any changes to policy or additional requirements will be communicated by email to ticketholders in advance of their performance, and reasonable accommodations will be made. For more information, please visit our Health and Safety page.