Photos by Shelby Lewis
I am of two minds about this: a notable event, to be sure, but also something you're not likely to attend because tickets have completely sold out, well in advance. Of course, there are always some no-shows and who knows what you may pick up at or near the box office at the last minute. And, of course, this is also about the entire American Bach Soloists' Festival and Academy with many fine events, which are available.
The jewel in the crown of the July 12-21 event in the S.F. Conservatory is on July 13, the one-night only (woe! woe!) performance of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber von Bibern's Missa Salisburgensis, a jubilee work created for the Salzburg Cathedral in 1682 for the city's — get this — 1,100th anniversary then as a center of Christianity. (Let's overlook for now how the Celts founded the city of The Sound of Music around 5th-century BCE, and the Romans awarded it the status of municipium under the name of Juvavum in 15 BCE.)
ABS Music Director Jeffrey Thomas says Missa Salisburgensis is "a mass setting essentially unrivaled by any other works from the Baroque in terms of scale and imposing grandeur." Because of its logistical and musical demands, the piece has only been performed a handful of times since its creation, and those presentations have largely been restricted to Salzburg or, on a few rare occasions, elsewhere in Europe. There is a recording of the work by Phil McCreesh with Concerto Köln.
Performances had a controversial history. Presented as a "Fest-messe für 53" in a smaller-scale student arrangement on modern instruments during the 1980s, it was credited at the time to Benevoli rather than Biber due to the confusion about the date of the piece and who was in charge of the Cathedral when it was written.
Recent scholarship and dating methods have shown the work to be from 1682 rather than 1628. ABS's performance will be the North American premiere of the work on period instruments and with the full forces and instrumentation Biber intended.
Also on the program will be Biber's Sonata IV à 5 and his Passacaglia for solo violin from the Mystery Sonatas, performed by Robert Mealy.
The festival's major attractions — with available tickets — are the July 12 opening night program of Bach and contemporaries (Schmelzer, Schütz, Telemann, Biber, and Vivaldi); Bach's Mass in B Minor (July 14 and 21); Handel's first oratorio, Esther (July 19), with its unique use of triple harp.
Says ABS Executive Director Don Scott Carpenter:
Our Festival and Academy, San Francisco’s Summer Bach Festival, was Maestro Jeffrey Thomas’ dream. He wanted to bring together faculty and participants from across the globe to teach, prepare, and perform the finest in early music right here in San Francisco. Soon, we welcome 61 outrageously talented participants and watch them get to work with our faculty who many of the students previously only knew through great Baroque recordings.The ABS Festival and Academy has contributed significantly to the Bay Area’s reputation as a major research and performance center for early music. We are honored to be a leader in outreach and education.