Bach Festival Revisits Roots with Reprise of the Requiem

By David Stabler of The Oregonian.

Midway through its 17-day concert series, the Oregon Bach Festival will revisit history on Sunday, when it performs Johannes Brahms' emotion-filled Requiem, the same work the festival performed when the Hult Center opened 20 years ago. Artistic director Helmuth Rilling will lead the Festival Orchestra and Chorus and two excellent vocal soloists, soprano Elizabeth Keusch and bass Sanford Sylvan.

Brahms' Requiem is one of Rilling's specialties, a work that breaks with traditional requiems that emphasize sorrow and terror. Brahms slanted his work more toward the living, with music that is consoling and peaceful. One of the most beloved choruses in all music is the beautiful "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place."

Another attraction to the program is Alban Berg's haunting Violin Concerto, an elegiac work that contains influences of J.S. Bach with references to his cantata "Ich habe genug" ("I have enough"). Violinist Alyssa Park should be up to the challenge: She is the youngest prize-winner in the history of the Tchaikovsky International Competition.

4 p.m. Sunday, Hult Center, Eugene. The afternoon begins with a free talk about both works at 3 p.m. Concert tickets are $27-$49; 541-682-5000 or www.oregonbachfestival.com.