As Kantor of the five largest parishes of Leipzig, every week Bach had to compose a cantata for the next Sunday service. A fabulous gift from his employers to posterity! Today we still have over 200 religious cantatas written by the Kantor, each more beautiful than the other, whose diversity is breathtaking given the urgency and repetitivity of the work involved. Like other specialists of baroque music such as Ton Koopman, Nikolaus Harnoncourt or Gustav Leonhardt, Philippe Herreweghe could not resist the charm of such an inexhaustible repertoire, which he has tirelessly performed and recorded with the Collegium Vocale of Gent, the vocal and instrumental ensemble he founded in 1970, with the specific aim of deepening and renewing the perception of North German vocal music. The Belgian conductor has an instantly recognizable touch in the exciting, radiant, fluid Bach he proposes from concert to recording and from recording to concert, with a handful of singers who are experienced in this style. Dorothee Mields, Damien Guillon, Thomas Hobbs and Peter Kooij belong to the circle of loyal musicians and this Christmas programme will be almost a family event for Herreweghe and his ensemble.

In co-production with the Festival d’Ambronay / Centre culturel de rencontre d’Ambronay.