The Händel passion

This program of music by Handel and Bach recreates an extraordinary event: Good Friday, 1747, when J.S. Bach performed Handel’s arias in Leipzig during a performance of the Markus Passion.

This is a truly exceptional event, likely the only known instance of artistic interaction between these composers, both born in 1685 and contemporaries.

The program presents the seven Handel arias that Bach performed that day in Leipzig, including some recitatives to provide the precise context of the Passion in which each piece is situated, and juxtaposes them with other Bach arias related to the Easter liturgy.