Ach, dass ich Wassers gnug hätte

Songs that search for glimmers of light in the darkness, between lament, regret and hope, are so beautiful. Countertenor Maarten Engeltjes and PRJCT Amsterdam bring this to life. The press praises PRJCT Amsterdam for ‘roundness of tone and flexibility of sound’ (Forum Opéra) and as ‘a great delight’. ‘Virtuoso’, wrote Trouw about Engeltjes. And if anyone could grieve in music, but also offer comfort, it was Bach.

This concert features a collection of the most beautiful lamentations from the Baroque era. Grief finds its voice in the lamento, a beloved aria form for composers that soared in popularity during this time. Not only in the hands of Johann Sebastian Bach, but also in those of his nephew Johann Christoph, ‘a profound composer’, according to Johann Sebastian. 

7 p.m. / Lecture Early Music by Jan Van den Bossche
Bach and the alto voice
Bach wrote some of his most moving arias for the alto voice, the most famous being the aria Erbarme dich from the St Matthew Passion. Did the alto voice have a specific meaning for him, or for German Baroque music in general? And who sang these arias? A choirboy or a grown man using his falsetto voice? Or was Bach possibly also inspired by his second wife, Anna Magdalena, who was an outstanding singer? In this lecture, the role of the alto voice in Bach’s oeuvre is explored through some of his finest arias and solo cantatas.