I remember attending the first of a series of lectures on Bach’s cantatas that Simon presented at the Albert Schweitzer Center in the year preceding his launching the Berkshire Bach Society. I was in my late thirties at that time, and had spent most of my adult life studying these vocal works. Knowing most of them, almost by heart, was a feat of which I was especially proud. When I first met Simon, I felt so blessed to have found a kindred spirit who had consumed these works as I had, and knew each by their BWV number, and could hum the main motives of each aria and chorus. The conversations Simon and I would have about our favorites would later be likened to a comedy skit in which two comedians (perhaps, I think, Smith and Dale as portrayed in “The Sunshine Boys”) would howl and laugh just by making the mere numeric reference to a joke from a numbered repertory of gags (“What about 4?, wasn’t that great?” “Nah!, 4, that’s nothing; now a really great one is 106!”). Simon, like my father, had been an executive in the garment district, but, unlike my father, had cultivated this great love of Bach’s vocal works. Although Simon and I were at loggerheads sometimes, it didn’t take long for me to bond with him and share his dream of cultivating a local musical group that might mount the herculean task of performing all of these cantatas — over two hundred works — in our beloved Berkshires. There were many groups that had attempted this project in many countries, but, ultimately failed far short of completion. It was an honor to be a charter member of the Society, and I volunteered to provide program notes and some cantata translations. It was Simon, though, who through sheer will, effervescence, and real street smarts, charmed a cadre of professional and amateur musicians and singers to launch our first concert. If memory serves me, I think it was was a pairing of cantatas 161 and 106. Bolstered by this early success, Simon attracted noted professionals offering a season of rarely heard masterpieces. The key to his success would be finding a choral director who could inspire amateur singers, be patient and nurturing, yet maintain the highest technical standards. Acquiring Penna Rose, an accomplished organist and conductor from New Jersey, who was a weekend Berkshire resident, was an extraordinary stroke of luck for Simon and our Society. Over the years, dozens of cantatas were performed; a traditional New Years Brandenburg Concerti concert, originally to benefit Camphill Village, featuring harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper became an indispensable recurring event; finally, a significant sampling of Bach’s organ repertory was performed with the likes of Joan Lippincott and Peter Sykes. The climax of the Society’s work, for many of us, was the performance of the B-Minor Mass at Ozawa Hall. How far Simon had driven us! It was almost impossible to reach that pinnacle again since the technical demands of these choral works require a commitment hard to find in an amateur part-time group. Penna Rose, whose charismatic leadership guided the singers through almost impossible hurdles, was key to the Society’s success during the first five years. As well, no one wanted to disappoint the ever indefatigable Simon who hovered about knowing when to cajole and praise and when to adopt a more realistic “plan b.” Was it all for Penna or Simon that the chorus shined? I think not. Every singer knew that these cantatas embodied the greatest in what music can express, and being successful in realizing these works, so honorable as a musical mission, was an artistic achievement of a lifetime.

Simon raised the musical bar in the Berkshires. Challenging performers and audiences with unfamiliar and difficult music is not necessarily best for an organization’s ledger sheet. But, it seemed to me, the halls were always filled, audiences and critics were charmed, and the musical distinction of his beloved Society remained unequaled in its initiative in the region.

In 2013, several noted conductors have succeeded in performing the complete cantatas. There are even new Bach Societies that flourish abroad that concentrate exclusively on this repertory. Audiences have become more sophisticated and discerning. Perhaps, in the near future, the time might be right to re-examine Simon’s dream.

PROGRAM NOTES and PROGRAM

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

            Just last week I was honored and pleased to receive another email from the great Capellmeister Bach, as I wasn’t absolutely sure, after 262 years, that he was still, er, alive. But he seems more hale and hearty than ever. I will quote for you here the most relevant portions of his letter, omitting his complaints about the heavenly accommodations, the celestial food and the unendingly pleasant circumstances:

“Dear Herr Capellmeister Cooper,

“I am most delighted to hear once again, via the heavenly web, about the exciting organization that, I am proud to say, bears my name. It is heart-warming to know that my works are still useful and fulfill some of the goals they were designed for. The collection of inventions and sinfonias, in particular, I hoped would be the basis for any student’s or music-lover’s education and pleasure, as it provides a variety of explorations into the different affects (emotions), while maintaining a reasonable structure in either two or three voices. Here’s how I introduced them at the time:

‘Candid instruction, whereby lovers of the keyboard, especially those anxious to be informed, are shown a clear way not only 1) to learn how to play independently in two voices, but after further progress, 2) to proceed accurately and skillfully with three obbligato parts, meanwhile arriving at good inventiones (ideas) of their own, and developing them well; mostly however, to achieve a cantabile style of playing, and along with that, to acquire a strong foretaste of composition. Composed by Joh. Seb. Bach, Capellmeister of the Grand-Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen. A. D. 1723.’

“I have heard that the famed Berkshire Bach Ensemble, under your distinguished direction will not only perform these works for the first time in the Berkshires – what are the Berkshires, by the way? – but present the sinfonias in a new version for chamber ensemble. Anyone who doubts my approval of such a scheme should worry no longer. These versions will allow us all to experience, even more deeply than the original keyboard settings, the intended range of character, emotion, design, color and contrapuntal fantasy, and most especially to understand the integrity of that middle voice, which, as my colleague Birnbaum once put it, always completed what it had to say. To hear all my offspring as one complete work is a rarity, and for me a unique event.

“It also fills me with great nostalgia that the Berkshire Bach Society has teamed up with my old friend Zimmermann, who so kindly lent – well, rented – his coffeehouse to us for musical events. It was the perfect place for music-making – great acoustic, lots of room and great schnitzels and beer. Spending evenings there was often many times more pleasurable than teaching Latin to those spoiled brats at the Thomasschule. I well remember the little blurb that appeared in that Leipzig rag edited by my colleague Mizler, the Neu eröffnete musikalische Bibliothek of 1736:

‘The public musical Concerts or Assemblies that are held here weekly are still flourishing steadily. One is conducted by Mr. Johann Sebastian Bach and is held, except during the Fair, once a week in Zimmermann’s coffeehouse in the Cather-Strasse, on Friday evenings between 8 and 10 o’clock; during the Fair, however, twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, at the same hour. The participants on these musical concerts are chiefly students here, and there are always good musicians among them, so that sometimes they become, as is known, famous virtuosos.’

“I am particularly looking forward to hearing the 15 two-part inventions played by such an imaginative artist as yourself on your (actually Mr. Turner’s) lovely harpsichord, which sounds better to me than my own used to do. At least Mr. Turner has more skill and patience than I used to have about keeping it regulated and in tune. Then I can’t wait to hear what you will do with the sinfonias, to which you have given fanciful and totally appropriate titles. I notice you have engaged six of your most superlative virtuosi, whose work I have enjoyed for many years and know will give a marvelous performance. The art of making such transcriptions, or reconstructions, as they are now called, was much prized in my day, and I have to say I enjoyed doing many of them myself. Special praises also to you, esteemed Capellmeister, for your new editions of the inventions and sinfonias – they are amazingly clear and accurate and much more easy to read than my scrawly handwriting.

“Although I will not be able to attend your concert in person, I will, as always, be there in spirit…

With best regards, Johann Sebastian Bach@elysianfields.com

Berkshire Bach Society is proud to present, for the first time in the Berkshires, both sets of Inventions complete and in order, the first set for solo harpsichord, the second set in our new chamber version, especially reconstructed by Dr. Cooper for the Berkshire Bach Ensemble. We are using Kenneth Cooper’s award-winning editions of the Inventions and Sinfonias, recently published by International Music Company.

PROGRAM

THE FIFTEEN TWO-PART INVENTIONS [BWV 772-786]
Inventio 1 in C major
Inventio 2 in C minor
Inventio 3 in D major
Inventio 4 in D minor
Inventio 5 in E-flat major
Inventio 6 in E major
Inventio 7 in E minor
Inventio 8 in F major
Inventio 9 in F minor
Inventio 10 in G major
Inventio 11 in G minor
Inventio 12 in A major
Inventio 13 in A minor
Inventio 14 in B-flat major
Inventio 15 in B minor

Kenneth Cooper, harpsichord

INTERMISSION

THE FIFTEEN THREE-PART INVENTIONS [BWV 787-801]
Chamber Version (reconstructed by Kenneth Cooper)
Sinfonia 1 in C major [Preludio, Tutti]
Sinfonia 2 in C minor [Fantasia, Winds]
Sinfonia 3 in D major [Burlesca, Strings]
Sinfonia 4 in D minor [Arioso, Tutti]
Sinfonia 5 in E-flat major [Duetto, Harpsichord]
Sinfonia 6 in E major [Pastorale, Strings]
Sinfonia 7 in E minor [Affettuoso, Winds]
Sinfonia 8 in F major [Vivace, Strings]
Sinfonia 9 in F minor [Adagio, Tutti]
Sinfonia 10 in G major [Fughetta, Tutti]
Sinfonia 11 in G minor [Capriccio, Harpsichord]
Sinfonia 12 in A major [Grazioso, Strings]
Sinfonia 13 in A minor [Concerto, Tutti]
Sinfonia 14 in B-flat major [Aria, Tutti]
Sinfonia 15 in B minor [Toccata, Tutti]

THE BERKSHIRE BACH ENSEMBLE
Patrick Wood, violin
Irena Momchilova, viola
Alistair MacRae, cello
Judith Mendenhall, flute
Marsha Heller, English horn
Stephen Walt, bassoon
Kenneth Cooper, harpsichord
 
Harpsichord Technician: Robert Turner

–By Andrew L. Pincus for The Berkshire Eagle  2/11/2012

PITTSFIELD – Bach and yoga offer different avenues to spiritual experience. Organist Christa Rakich combines them.

Joined by soprano Miranda Bergmeier, Rakich will perform a recital Sunday afternoon for the Berkshire Bach Society. It will be a Berkshire debut for Rakich as an organist, but not as a devotee of yoga. Since 1998, she has found a “spiritual home” at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, where she trained to become a yoga teacher.

Yoga has affected her playing “quite profoundly,” she says.

“It’s added depth and breadth, and it’s allowed me to approach the music with a sense of calmness and openness. You know, it can be kind of difficult to tell whether that’s the result of yoga or the result of aging, but I find that my approach to performance especially involves a lot of deep breathing and focus and joy.”

Physical flexibility is another benefit. Rakich recalls having had yoga teacher friends come up to her after concerts and ask about her footwork at the organ pedals: “Were those some asanas you were doing up there?”

The program, titled “The Inner World of Feeling: Sense and Sensibility in the Music of J.S. Bach,” will take place at 4 Sunday in St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Anticipating the season, it will feature the Passiontide (Lenten) and Easter sections of the “Little Organ Book,” along with other Bach selections.

Bach’s organ book, Rakich points out, is organized by liturgical year, with chorale preludes – so called because they introduce hymn tunes to be sung by a congregation – for Advent, Christmas, Easter and other seasons. To introduce each of the 13 selections to be performed, Bergmeier will sing a sample of the hymn on which it is based.

Bach “was a church musician and the church, of course, had standard hymns that were sung for specified occasions – Christmas carols, Lenten hymns, etc. – just as we do today,” Rakich said from her home in Bloomfield, Conn. “So these were melodies that would have been very familiar to any churchgoer, and in the 18th century, of course, everyone was a churchgoer.”

One of the other works to be performed in Bach’s “Piece d’Orgue,” his only work titled in French, Rakich said.

Why French? “It’s just a mystery,” she said. “He may just have been in a French mood that day.”

Rakich, who was co-chair of the organ department at New England Conservatory in Boston until it was recently shut down, has done similar programs with other singers. When the Bach society requested a concert with a singer here, she chose Bergmeier. The two women had just performed a different program at the Big Moose Bach Festival in Berlin, N.H., where Bergmeier lives, and Rakich found her partner’s “gorgeous voice” just right for baroque music.

After earning a master’s degree at the conservatory, Rakich taught there for several years. She left to serve on the faculties of Westminster Choir College and the University of Connecticut, as assistant university organist at Harvard, and as artist-in-residence at the University of Pennsylvania. She returned to the conservatory in 2003. She teaches Kripalu yoga in Connecticut.

Among her recordings is “Deferred Voices,” a collection of organ music by women composers. The selections include the Prelude in F by Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix’s older sister, and a “Prelude on an Old Folk Tune” by the eminent Bostonian Amy Beach, plus pieces by less-known figures.

(The possibly apocryphal story goes, Rakich recalled, that Felix was supposed to write a processional for Fanny’s wedding to painter Wilhelm Hensel, but procrastinated. So Fanny took matters in hand and wrote the Prelude in F as her own wedding march.)

A February organ concert is an annual event for the Bach society. It is supported by the Berkshire chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

In the program announcement, Rakich promises: “The program paints an aural picture of Bach’s world and faith, highlighting the personal drama of his music, as it depicts profound joy and deepest sorrow.”

Simone Dinnerstein

American pianist Simone Dinnerstein has been called “a throwback to such high priestesses of music as Wanda Landowska and Myra Hess,” by Slate magazine, and praised by TIME for her “arresting freshness and subtlety.” The New York-based pianist gained an international following because of the remarkable success of her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which she raised the funds to record. Released in 2007 on Telarc, it ranked No. 1 on the US Billboard Classical Chart in its first week of sales and was named to many “Best of 2007″ lists including those of The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker. Her follow-up album, The Berlin Concert, also gained the No. 1 spot on the Chart.

Ms. Dinnerstein has since signed an exclusive agreement with Sony Classical, and her first album for that label – Bach: A Strange Beauty – was released in January 2011, immediately earning the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Classical Chart, and making the Billboard Top 200 which compiles the entire music industry’s top selling albums in all genres. The San Francisco Chronicle called Bach: A Strange Beauty “unadorned but profound bliss,” and The Washington Post raved, “Dinnerstein’s readings may be said to plumb these works’ genuine depths . . . poised, elegant, wonderfully played.” In conjunction with the album’s release, Ms. Dinnerstein was featured on national television by CBS Sunday Morning. She was the bestselling instrumentalist of 2011 on the US Billboard Classical Chart, and was also included in NPR’s 2011 100 Favorite Songs from all genres.

Ms. Dinnerstein’s second album for Sony Classical will be released on January 31, 2012. Entitled Something Almost Being Said, it includes J. S. Bach’s Partitas Nos. 1 and 2, and Schubert’s Four Impromptus, Op. 90. The album was recorded at the Academy of Arts and Letters in New York by Grammy-winning producer Adam Abeshouse, and its title is taken from English poet Philip Larkin’s “The Trees.”

Ms. Dinnerstein’s performance schedule has taken her around the world since her triumphant New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in 2005, performing Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Recent and upcoming performances include her recital debuts at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Vienna Konzerthaus, and London’s Wigmore Hall, the Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart Festival, the Aspen and Ravinia festivals, in Cologne, Paris, London, Copenhagen, Vilnius, Bremen, Rome, and Lisbon, and at the Stuttgart Bach Festival; as well as debut performances with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Kristjan Järvi’s Absolute Ensemble, and the Tokyo Symphony. In New York she has performed on Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series, and in three sold-out recitals at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is also a frequent performer at New York’s (Le) Poisson Rouge, a club presenting all genres of music.

Ms. Dinnerstein has played concerts throughout the United States for the Piatigorsky Foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing classical music to non-traditional venues. Amongst the places she has played are nursing homes, schools and community centers. Most notably, she gave the first classical music performance in the Louisiana state prison system when she played at the Avoyelles Correctional Center. She also performed at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women, in a concert organized by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to coincide with her BSO debut.

In addition, Ms. Dinnerstein has founded Neighborhood Classics, a concert series open to the public and hosted by New York City public schools. The concerts, which feature musicians Ms. Dinnerstein has admired and collaborated with during her career, raise funds for the schools’ Parent Teacher Associations. The musicians performing donate their time and talent to the program. Neighborhood Classics began at PS 321, the Brooklyn public elementary school that her son attends and where her husband teaches fifth grade, and expanded in 2010 to PS 142 on New York’s Lower East Side.

Over the past few years, Ms. Dinnerstein has been featured in Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, Classic FM Magazine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, “O” The Oprah Magazine, TIME, Slate, Stern, Cicero, The Sunday (London) Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, among others, and has appeared on radio programs including BBC Radio 3′s In Tune, BBC Radio 4′s Woman’s Hour, NPR’s Morning Edition, Public Radio International’s Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, American Public Media’s Performance Today, Minnesota Public Radio, XM Radio’s Classical Confidential, as part of the news on SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s The Howard Stern Show, and on national television in Germany.

Ms. Dinnerstein is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she was a student of Peter Serkin. She was a winner of the Astral Artist National Auditions, and has twice received the Classical Recording Foundation Award. She also studied with Solomon Mikowsky at the Manhattan School of Music and in London with Maria Curcio. Simone Dinnerstein (pronounced See-MOHN-uh DIN-ner-steen) lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and son. She is managed by Tanja Dorn at IMG Artists and is a Sony Classical artist.