Thu 4/25 & Fri 4/26 @ 7:30PM
Sat 4/27 @ 8PM
Sun 4/28 @ 5PM
Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland’s baroque orchestra, is bringing back a piece it hasn’t performed in two decades: J.S. Bach’s rarely heard Easter Oratorio. And while it’s quite a way past Easter now, the quality of the music makes it welcome any time.
And Apollo’s Fire is rolling out all the stops. It will be performed by a 21-piece orchestra and 21-voice chorus, along with four soloists (soprano Andrea Walker, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, tenor Laurence Wiliford and baritone Edward Vogel) who will sing and perform the roles of Mary, mother of James; Mary Magdalene; Peter; and John. They’ll sing from memory in order to interact with each during the performance, which will be in English. Soloists in the Oratorio include violinist Alan Choo, oboist Debra Nagy, traverso player Kathie Stewart, and principal trumpeters Steve Marquardt and Perry Sutton.
In addition to the Easter Oratorio, the ensemble will also perform Bach’s Easter Cantata, which will be sung in German.
“I think that on some level, Bach was always contemplating God and the beauty of the created universe,” says Apollo’s Fire’s artistic director Jeannette Sorrell in the event present release. “His music weaves a pathway for our human emotions to connect with something transcendent. This seems to be true of all his music— but perhaps most especially, the Easter Oratorio. The music vividly conveys the conflicting emotions of Jesus’ loved ones when they discover the empty tomb – grief, fear, confusion, hope, and wonder. These are emotions that speak to all of us today in a troubled and changing world.”
Thursday’s performance is at Federated Church in Chagrin Falls. Friday they’ll perform at St. Raphael Church in Bay Village; and on Saturday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Akron. They wrap up the weekend on Sunday at Church of the Gesu in University Heights.
Go here for more information and tickets.
Chagrin Falls, OH 44022
Bay Village, OH 44140
Akron, OH 44313
University Heights, OH 44118