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The Sunday Opera: Celebrating Bach's Birthday with Cantatas and More

March 21st is the 336th anniversary of the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach, and on this week’s Sunday Opera (3/21 3:00 p.m.) we’ll be helping to celebrate it with three of his works and a work by one of his sons.  We’ll begin with three of JS Bach’s cantatas, two written to celebrate the unorthodox rise to the Polish throne and subsequent reign of Augustus III:  Preise dein Glucke, gesegnetes Sachsen, BWV 215 (Praise your good fortune blessed Saxony) and Auf, schmetternde Tone der muntern Trompeten, BWV 207a (Arise, blairing tones of high-spirited trumpets).  We’ll follow that with one of his most loved secular cantatas and one that has been costumed and staged, Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht BWV 211 (Be still, stop chattering) otherwise known as The Coffee Cantata.  After that, we’ll hear from one of Johann Sebastian’s four sons who became composers, Johann Christian who was also known as the London Bach or John Bach and one of his eleven operas, “Zanaida.”   

Join us as we celebrate Bach’s birthday and our Bach 500 membership campaign. 

Michael is program host and host of the WWFM Sunday Opera, Sundays at 3 pm, and co-host of The Dress Circle, Sundays at 7 pm.