I live in a city that has a four day festival dedicated to J.S. Bach.
- Thursday, Sergey Antonov performs Bach Cello Suites Nos. 1, 2 and 3 at the American Antiquarian Society.
- Friday, Christian Tetzlaff and Pamela Frank will play works by Bach, Bartok, de Bériot and Prokofiev in the lovely Tuckerman Hall, pictured above.
- Saturday, Pianist Ilya Yakushev will perform two concerts, one at the Worcester Art Museum, and another at Tuckerman Hall, his program including the Bach-Busoni Chaconne in D minor, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor (“The Tempest”), and Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”
- Sunday, Worcester Chorus will wrap it all up with Wir danken dir Gott and Singet dem Herr nein neues Lied.
And you know what? I can’t go! Thursday I have dinner with a busy friend and don’t want to reschedule. Friday I have to plan a school project. Saturday I have to execute the school project and then run off to a charity dinner where I am hosting a table.
Sunday, if I am lucky, I’ll be able to catch the Worcester Chorus. I enjoy choral music better than program anyway.
But even if I can’t make it is nice to know I live in a city that has Bachfest. Yes, it also has a drug crisis, a panhandling problem, an illegal dumping problem, a gang problem, etc. but in these End Times you have to consciously pick where to focus your attentions. You don’t pretend problems don’t exist, but you keep everything proportional to your real possibilities in life.
Apocalypse Wow! 