Lewandowski Chorale off to Berlin to perform

ASHLEY SWEKE

A special concert was held in Johannesburg in the Music Room at Villa Arcadia to showcase its entire repertoire for the upcoming Festival, which is one of the most beautiful and historic settings in Johannesburg.

The Lewandowski Chorale performed some of the works of Louis Lewandowski, Salomon Sulzer, Salomone Rossi and Claudio Monteverdi among others. The performance featured The African Renaissance Ensemble and various instrumentalists and soloists. 

This year’s Festival in Berlin is dedicated to the time before Lewandowski: Jewish Renaissance and Baroque in Synagogue Music.

In 1622, the Italian Jewish composer Salamone Rossi published a collection of sacred choral music in Hebrew. The Songs of Solomon were the first of its kind, drawing from Renaissance and early Baroque madrigal and motet styles, but intended to be heard in the synagogue.

Other composers followed in his footsteps, among them Carlo Grossi, Lodovico Saladin, Giuseppe Vita Clave and Christiano Giuseppe Lidarti. Their compositions for Jewish worship, para-liturgical celebrations and Jewish confraternities paved the way for Lewandowski and his 19th-century contemporaries.

The 6th Louis Lewandowski Festival will honour the contributions of these pioneers.

Besides the Lewandowski Chorale, also performing will be synagogue choirs from Leipzig, from Basel, and two from Berlin. The Tutti-i-bassi Ensemble will be accompanying some pieces.

The Shabbat services and concerts will take place at various venues in Berlin, including the Pestalozzistrasse and Rykestrasse Synagogues.