COMING UP... The Mass in B minor

Czech harpsichordist Václav Luks makes his debut with the OAE and at the Southbank Centre with a fresh chamber interpretation of Bach’s monumental Mass in B Minor.

The Mass in B Minor rises from the musical landscape like a great cathedral. For Bach it was the culmination of a life’s journey. For those that come after it is a place of pilgrimage. Like so much else with Bach, the work had a very pragmatic beginning. It had started out as a project in 1733 to seemingly secure the Protestant composer a court title in Catholic Dresden; over the years he added further sections – each a self-contained triumph –although his ultimate intention for the work remains unclear.

The Mass is one of the high peaks of human creativity. A compendium of sublime arias that takes relish in virtuoso solos from singers and instrumentalists with some of Bach’s most wondrously crafted choruses, Bach elevates the whole into a work of true heavenly dimensions.

7.00pm

Sunday 19 March

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall