For more information, please visit: https://www.baroquefest.org.au/festival-program/2023-5

Amongst all of Bach’s wonderful output, his more than 200 cantatas stand out as one of the greatest musical achievements of the human race. The vast majority of these masterworks are dedicated to the glory of God, but what we are perhaps less aware of is that Bach wrote a small but wonderful collection of cantatas for secular occasions. As few as 20 of these works survive, however they provide a wonderful insight into a composer who approached secular music with the same artistic integrity and demand for quality that we find in his sacred music. We present his much loved Wedding Cantata featuring the Australian soprano Susannah Lawergren, as well as his lesser known but stunning Italian cantata 'Non sa che sia dolore' finally ending with his marvellous satirical comedy about life in Leipzig, the Coffee Cantata.