From December 1 to December 25, Moscow will host the IX International Advent Christmas Festival, organized by the Collegium Musicum Foundation. His concert program will include works by famous composers: Felix Mendelssohn, Johann Sebastian Bach, Claudio Monteverdi and others. All concerts will take place in the Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.
The solemn opening of the festival on December 1 will be attended by the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia named after E.F. Svetlanov and The State Academic Russian Choir named after A.V. Sveshnikov. Under the baton of Oleg Romanenko, they will perform the “Reformation Symphony” and the symphony-cantata “Lobgesang” (“Hymn of Praise”) by Felix Mendelssohn.
On December 4, the Bach Gala organ evening will be held as part of the festival. Organists of different generations will perform the music of Johann Sebastian Bach on the historic organ of the cathedral. The program will be presented by the permanent participants of the Collegium Musicum projects — Fyodor Stroganov, Daniel Salvador and Alexander Fiseysky.
On December 11, The Readers ensemble will give a concert. Its program will include works of Italian Trecento — the music of Italy of the 1300s. The musicians of the ensemble work only with the original notation and play exclusively from manuscripts.
On December 15, the Transients ensemble will present the program “The Mechanism of Christmas”. The mystery, created on the basis of works by German composers of the early Baroque, will tell listeners the story of Christmas.
The concert “Mirror in the Mirror” on December 18 will be held under the theme “reflection of the Baroque in modernity — and vice versa”. In the program violist Sergey Poltavsky together with like-minded musicians will combine the works of Henry Purcell and Claudio Monteverdi with the opuses of modern composers, and ancient instruments — with saxophones.
The festival will end on December 25, the day of Western European Christmas, with a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas cantatas. On the festive evening, two cantatas will be performed, which are united by Martin Luther’s hymn “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” (“Come, Savior of the Nations”).
Source: https://www.culture.ru/news/257485/1-dekabrya-v-moskve-startuet-rozhdestvenskii-festival-advent
