The programme entitled Die Bach-Familie was devised for the Summer Festivities of Early Music by its artistic director, Alexander Schneider. His principal musical resource was the so-called Altbachisches Archiv, as well as a brief treatise on the origins of the Bach family which Johann Sebastian himself wrote in 1735, in which he listed a total of fifty-three musically active members of the dynasty.

The six-voice ensemble, accompanied by chamber organ and violone is led by its charismatic artistic director, alto Alexander Schneider. His enthusiasm and his insistence on delivery and the meaning of the text brought these old scores vividly to life, lending them both depth and lightness. In this intimate scoring, the voices sounded marvellous in Emmaus Abbey. The acoustics enhanced the perfect blending of vocal colours, and the singers dealt effortlessly with the long reverberation.

This tightly focused, interval-free evening, at which the highly attentive audience saved its applause until the very end, gave rise to a wide spectrum of emotions: the composers strove to convey as faithfully as possible the joy, pain, suffering and devotion contained in the biblical verses. Ensemble Polyharmonique fully honoured this intention through its intense focus on the declamation of every single word.

The opening night of the Summer Festivities was thus, in both its theme and its artistic performance, truly otherworldly.

Dita Hradecká, Seznam Zprávy.cz, 22. 7. 2025