Johann Sebastian Bach Friede auf Erden. Reconstructed cantatas

Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most important composers of Western music history. He came from a widely ramified musical dynasty, which produced numerous musicians and organists in the Thuringian-Saxon area.

Bach vocal

Ever since Carus-Verlag was founded in 1972, publishing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach has been a special focus for us. In the 2017 Reformation anniversary year we completed the Bach vocal project. Bach's complete sacred vocal works are now available in modern Urtext editions, together with performance material. A complete edition of all the full scores is also available in a high quality box set. Personal details

Alongside its dedication to a core repertoire of composers such as Monteverdi, Schütz, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Schumann, and Brahms, the Vocalensemble Rastatt & Les Favorites frequently explore new terrain with premiere performances. On the heels of its successes in national and international choir competitions, the ensemble has taken part in numerous internationally acclaimed CD recordings as well as radio, and television productions for SWR, Radio France, Deutschlandradio Kultur, and Deutschlandfunk. The Vocalensemble Rastatt & Les Favorites have performed in the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Musikfest Bremen, the Kölner Philharmonie, the SWR RheinVokal Festival, the Europäisches Musikfest Stuttgart, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, the Deutschlandradio Kultur Wartburgkonzerte, the Internationale Musiktage im Dom zu Speyer, the Philharmonie in Mulhouse, and the Centre de Musique “Les Dominicains” in Guebwiller, France, among other venues. The flexible choir does not shy away from excursions into the world of opera, having performed Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Bellini’s Norma with Edita Gruberova, and Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte with Rolando Villazón. Together with Klaus Maria Brandauer and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the choir also performed Mendelssohn’s Sommernachtstraum at the Musikfest Bremen. The ensemble is sponsored by the German state of Baden-Württemberg in co-operation with its “Kunst 2020” program, as well as by its home city of Rastatt. Personal details

Personal details

Holger Speck enjoys an international reputation as a charismatic conductor who succeeds both in realizing stylistic characteristics in an innovative manner and in conveying emotional content. Fanfare magazine from the USA attests to his “undeniable authority.” With his distinctive sense of sound and compelling, lively and authentic interpretations, he shapes the image of his own ensembles as well as the choirs and orchestras with which he works as a guest conductor. The president of the German Bundestag Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble engaged him and his Vocalensemble Rastatt for a concert during the G20 summit. Speck established the Grammy-nominated Vocalensemble Rastatt and the Baroque orchestra Les Favorites internationally with exciting concert programs and outstanding CD recordings on the Carus label containing music by Buxtehude, Telemann, Handel and Brahms, among others. For Deutsche Grammophon productions, he was responsible for the choral sections of the Mozart operas “Die Entführung aus dem Serail,” “Le nozze di Figaro,” “Così fan tutte,” and “Don Giovanni.” Holger Speck teaches at the University of Music in Karlsruhe; in addition to being the artistic director of Vocalensemble Rastatt & Les Favorites, he works as a guest conductor with the NDR Vokalensemble, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and the choir and orchestra of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra in Ljubljana, among others. The ballet director John Neumeier engaged Speck to conduct his last major creation “Dona nobis pacem” with Bach’s Mass in B minor at the Hamburg State Opera and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. . Personal details

Personal details

Terry Wey was born in Switzerland and received his first singing lessons as a member of the Vienna Boys’ Choir with Silvija V. Purchar, later studying with Kurt Equiluz and Christine Schwarz. As a boy treble he won prizes in several competitions (including the MIGROS Genossenschaftsbund [Cooperative Society] Zurich, Kärntner-Sparkasse [Savings Bank] and Wörthersee Music Scholarship). His first appearances with the “Clemencic Consort” under René Clemencic in 2003 brought him to the notice of the international concert and opera scene. He has performed with conductors including Thomas Hengelbrock, Marc Minkowski and Michael Hofstetter and orchestras such as the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble, Les Arts Florissants and Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble. Several CD recordings illustrate his achievements and versatility. Personal details

Personal details

The baritone Sebastian Noack was born in Berlin and studied singing with Dietmar Hackel, Ingrid Figur and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. He became known after being awarded 1st prize at the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang; other prizes followed. Since then he has made a name for himself, particularly as a concert singer, performing under renowned conductors such as Frieder Bernius, Marcus Creed, Christoph Eschenbach, and Roy Goodman. His repertoire includes all of the significant oratorios from the Renaissance to the present time. On numerous tours he has travelled through all of Europe, the USA and Southeast Asia. He is a welcome guest at international festivals. Noack sings with the large broadcasting networks and well-known Baroque orchestras as well as with chamber music ensembles, e.g., the Sharoun Ensemble or Sabine Meyer’s Trio di Clarone. He has participated in CD productions under Philippe Herreweghe and Andreas Spering. Noack is particularly interested in lieder. Together with the pianist Manuel Lange, he founded the new concert series “Meisterlied im Musikinstrumenten-Museum”, for which – in addition to his own recitals – he has already been able to engage renowned guests. After having previ - ously performed concertante or semi-scenic operas, Noack made his stage debut in Donizetti’s Viva la Mamma at the Berlin State Opera in June 2009. He is a visit ing professor at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. Personal details