programmes

These short pieces, which move us with their humility, are imbued with a rare emotional intensity. And yet, despite their themes of mourning, sorrow and tears, they radiate a luminous clarity and serene confidence in the future.

Pygmalion carries on its journey through romantic Germany with Stéphane Degout, who's already been part of a Schubertian dream and A German Requiem. Beyond Brahms' masterpiece, they share works haunted by the shadow of death.

Special event: Pygmalion makes its Australian debut with a residency at the Adelaide Festival (27 February–6 March). These short pieces, which move us with their humility, are imbued with a rare emotional intensity.

Special event: Pygmalion makes its Australian debut with a residency at the Adelaide Festival (27 February–6 March). Over two special nights, Pygmalion will revive the spirit of St Mark’s through a spatialised performance of the Vespers in the spectacular acoustic of St Peter’s Cathedral.

Special event: Pygmalion makes its Australian debut with a residency at the Adelaide Festival (27 February–6 March). Rossi's Orfeo was lost for centuries. Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion offer a condensed version that sublimates the rich score, displaying a palette of instrumental and vocal colours carried by powerful recitative and the use of particularly lively choruses.

Pygmalion on tour! / ‘The St Matthew Passion is one of the most moving experiences of our common humanity that it is possible to share! The story of the Passion of Christ remains today a living drama and moral dilemma of universal relevance, in which – whatever our spirituality or culture – all of us are confronted with our own mortality, our own search for answers.' (Raphaël Pichon)

For this new and final edition of Bach's Paths, Pygmalion begins its journey in Wolfenbüttel, where some of Bach's mentors, Michael Praetorius and Heinrich Schütz, were chapel masters. This city in Lower Saxony had libraries that gave young Bach access to the works of great Italian, French and English masters in music, dance, tragedy and more.

Three major composers in the history of European music were born in 1685: Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Handel and Domenico Scarlatti. Born in the same year, they followed different paths and each contributed to shaping the musical landscape of a Europe still in its infancy.

The final episode of this epic journey will take place on the Baltic coast, in the city of Lübeck, the destination of J.S. Bach's journey in 1705. After crossing Lake Ratzeburg by boat, the troupe will make a final 20 km walk to enter the former capital of the Hanseatic League on foot. We'll set up in St. Jacobi Church, where Dietrich Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri will be performed and filmed.

The Marienkirche in Lübeck will be the setting for the end of our Bach Paths epic. Pygmalion will perform the complete Mass, J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor BWV 232.