MSO goes back to Bach

Sacred and secular orchestral and vocal music will ring from the dome of the Basilica of St. Josaphat as the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra returns to the city’s largest sacred space Nov. 4–5 for twin performances of several of Johann Sebastian Bach’s best known works.

The MSO, under the baton of associate conductor Yaniv Dinur, will perform Bach’s "Brandenburg Concertos No. 1 and 3," followed by The Magnificat, the composer’s musical interpretation of the biblical canticle of the same name scored for five vocal parts and Baroque orchestra.

The two Brandenburg Concertos, part of a series of six Bach completed in 1721, are widely considered some of the best orchestral compositions of the Baroque era.

The Magnificat was written in 1733 when the composer was musical director at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Leipzig, Germany.

The MSO performances will feature the voices of sopranos Sherezade Panthaki and Yulia van Doren, countertenor Daniel Taylor, tenor Dominic Armstrong and bass Alexander Dobson under the direction Milwaukee Symphony Chorus director Cheryl Frazes Hill.

Conductor Dinur took some time to talk with WiG about the music, the venue and what makes these performances so appealing to audiences.

WiG: This is not the first time the MSO has performed at the Basilica of St. Josaphat. Why is this a desirable venue?

Yaniv Dinur: We have a series of concerts at the Basilica, and we perform about four programs a year there. Interestingly enough, it has become a venue where we experiment with things and push the boundaries.

We like performing a lot of new music there. In April, we will perform John Luther Adams’ Become Ocean, a piece that won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize. I think the combination of new music performed in this beautiful old venue and everything that it represents creates a special experience. In a sense, this particular program is unusual because we returned to the good old, incredible music of Bach. We just missed him too much.

Why did you choose these specific Bach compositions?

Since we’re a symphony orchestra, we don’t get to play Bach’s music a lot, because it’s written for smaller ensembles. As a pianist, I played a lot of his music for keyboard, but I hardly ever get to conduct it. So, for me personally, it is a very special concert.

This program presents both worlds of Bach. The first half of the concert is dedicated to his secular music — "Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1 and 3." They are very virtuosic pieces that give us the opportunity to show off the awesome musicians of the Milwaukee Symphony. The second half is the sacred Bach — his Magnificat.

Are you a big fan of Bach’s work?

Show me a musician who isn’t! Bach’s music is the bible of the musician. Everything that came later you can already find in Bach’s music in some way, even pop music.

Acoustically speaking, how well does the Basilica serve as a concert hall?

We love performing in the Basilica. It’s such a beautiful, impressive place, and the immense reverb fills up the place with sound. It’s an extraordinary feeling.

On the other hand, the acoustic conditions present some challenges. It is sometimes hard to hear each other, and if the musicians are sitting far away from one another, there is a delay in the sound that makes it difficult to play together. Therefore, we are very careful in choosing the music that we perform there and make sure to rehearse in the space so we can get used to it.

What special concessions, if any, did you and/or the orchestra and chorus have to make to adjust to the Basilica?

You can’t play anything too fast there, or you will drown in a soup of sound. But we do play fast music, and you just have to find the right tempo that would make the music sound very clear, but still keep its vibrancy and energy.

In terms of overall ambience, how would you rate the Basilica as a classical music venue?

Unbelievable. 

What might surprise even the most ardent Bach admirers about these particular performances?

If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise. But I always try to bring out the humor in his music, even in the most serious pieces. It’s sometimes hiding, but it’s always there. Bach and Mozart are very similar in that sense.

In concert

The Milwaukee Symphony, under the direction of Yaniv Dinur, will perform the music of Johann Sebastian Bach Nov. 4–5 at the Basilica of St. Josaphat, 2333 S. Sixth St., Milwaukee. Tickets are available for the Nov. 5 performance at 4 p.m. and cost $50–$65. Go online to mso.org or call 414-291-7605.