A Class By Himself

CB. There are different ways of performing Bach today. One of these is the "authentic performance practice" approach. What path have you chosen and why do you regard it as the best way to convey Bach's meaning and message?

HR. I have just one general comment. If you were able to reconstruct completely a performance situation-say, a cantata performance in the Thomas Church in Bach's lifetime and under his own direction-you would have the same type of choir, the same type of instruments, the same type of dynamics, the same type of articulation and tempos, etc. And if you were able to do that (which is impossible), then you would only have half of the reconstruction of the music, because you could not reconstruct the other half of this situation, which is the audience or the congregation. The people of that time were—in every respect, not just in musical respects—completely different from us today. So, I think if we were to perform today in the fashion in which they performed in their day, then this would reach us in a completely different way.

Therefore, I say it is important to reproduce the idea, the background, and the spiritual background of Bach's music. This must be the goal, not just to reproduce a sound; and in this regard, of course, every conductor working in that field has his or her own opinion. I think for today's conductor and every musician of our time who performs this kind of music, it is essential to know everything that one can know about the performance practice of Bach's period. Then, we have to translate it into a sound and a way of music-making which reaches the ears of our time. And that's why I personally prefer to do this on the instruments we normally use.

CB. Perhaps this next question is also about translating Bach to our present circumstances. Does Bach really belong in the concert hall-which is where we hear him in Eugene at the Festival?

HR. Most of our concerts, not only in Eugene but all over the world, are being done in concert halls. Of course, it would be wonderful to do it in a beautiful old church. But I think that in the last analysis it should not be important in which surroundings, in which hall or whatever, this music is played. Music itself has to create the atmosphere in which we hear it.

CB. In this country, there is some difficulty in attracting young audiences to classical music. What is the best way to attract new and/or young audiences to Bach?

HR. This is not easy for me to answer. Of course you know that we have tried in many ways to introduce Bach to new audiences with our lecture/demonstrations, which we call gesprachskonzerts. And when I do this-for example, in Stuttgart-then we have many, many young people who are very interested in hearing about the background, about the architecture, about the thoughts, about the very ideas behind Bach's music.

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