Bach in St. Katharinen church

Three concerts in the church of the HafenCity.

»Revealed: corruption prevents Bach coming to Hamburg!« That could have been the headline in 1720, for as we know »it was during this time that he travelled to Hamburg, whereupon he played before the magistrate and many other nobles of this city for more than 2 hours on the beautiful organ of St. Catharine, receiving the utmost admiration.« As a result of this it was hoped to appoint Bach as organist in Hamburg, but the omnipresent »bribed offices« prevented this being realised.

Today the Church of St. Katharine is one of the locations in Hamburg where a special Bach atmosphere can still enchant an audience. The Elbphilharmonie concerts pay hommage to this, shining a light on the solo sonatas and partitas for violin, played by the fantastic violinist Julia Fischer on two consecutive evenings. A third concert with prominent international soloists Christine Schäfer, Hilary Hahn and Matthias Goerne will present selected vocal and instrumental pieces by Bach.