Bach springs back, overcoming obstacles

A ‘miracle’ recording has emerged in middle of the coronavirus pandemic

Amid the scorched-earth musical landscape of cancelled festivals, near-bankrupt orchestras and freelance musicians’ lives ruined, there are a few happy stories of victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. One of the most dramatic happened in mid-March as the pandemic took hold. A European concert tour by one of the world’s great early music orchestras and choirs, the Tokyo-based Bach Collegium Japan, collapsed halfway through, as the lockdown took hold. But out of the collapse came something totally unforeseen: their new recording of one of the greatest of all sacred works, the St. John Passion by J.S. Bach.

The story began in London, where they had travelled to perform the piece. “After the concert we received the news that our next date in Lyon had been cancelled, but it seemed the German concerts could still go ahead,” recalls the group’s harpsichordist, Masato Suzuki, son of the group’s founder, Masaaki Suzuki, and soon to be director.

“So we flew to Cologne. But as we were rehearsing new rules were constantly being announced by the federal government, which reduced still further the maximum audience numbers,” he said, “and eventually the director of the concert hall told us the concert could not go ahead.”

So it seemed the five solo singers, 21 chorus members and 21 orchestral players had just made an expensive trip to Germany for nothing. But then the hall’s director, Louwrens Langevoort, suggested they perform a livestreamed concert in the empty hall. From there came the idea of actually recording a CD of the work too.

It proved to be a logistical nightmare. Top-quality recording equipment and the best sound engineers had to be found. Fortunately, the group’s Swedish record company BIS agreed to take on the organization and considerable expense involved. “I got this very panicky call from Masaaki asking us to help,” says Robert von Bahr, the company’s chief executive, “and I only hesitated for half a second, because I have total faith in them. They are absolute world leaders in what they do and always deliver top-quality performances, and we have made more than a 100 recordings together.

“Also I knew the group’s founder, Masaaki Suzuki, was retiring, so this would be our last chance to record the piece with him as director. But I was bloody nervous, because so much could go wrong.”

He was right. Any of the performers could fall ill, and the city government could enforce a total lockdown at any moment, which would shut down the recording instantly. Bahr was able to call on seasoned producer Martin Sauer, twiddling his thumbs in Paris because a recording project had been cancelled.

“Sometimes a pandemic can work in your favour,” says Bahr. “There were no flights to Cologne, so he threw himself in his car and just drove. He was in such a hurry he forgot to pack any clothes and had to buy a new set when he arrived.”

By the last day only a handful of performers were needed to record the smaller movements — and then came a final hurdle. A passing police officer noticed the hall was busy at a time when it should have been in lockdown, and demanded the session be stopped immediately. “Fortunately, he had seen the streamed concert two nights before, and knew who we were,” says Masato Suzuki.

How does he feel looking back at this madly intense time?

“Well, I do not use this word lightly, but I think it was a miracle that the recording happened at all.”