‘Philippe Herreweghe, birthday concert’

On 2 May 2017, Philippe Herreweghe is celebrating his 70th birthday in the company of his musician friends! The conductor, instrumentalists and singers invited wanted to pay him a fitting homage. The violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and the pianist Martin Helmchen have both recorded albums with him. Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, the young cellist with the delicate touch, also made a name for herself under his baton, as did the double bass player Damien Guffroy, of the Orchestre des Champs Elysées. The cellist Steven Isserlis is very close to Herreweghe and shares a real passion for Schumann with him. The Edding Quartet has recorded two albums for the Phi label and is joining forces with Andreas Brantelid for Schubert’s touching Quintet. Herreweghe’s marvellous institution, the Collegium Vocale Gent will be conducted by Christoph Prégardien on this unique occasion. We couldn’t have hoped for a better opening to the Bach Heritage festival, the curator of which is none other than... Philippe Herreweghe himself.

On the occasion of the Bach Heritage festiva, BOZAR LITERATURE has asked a number of poets to write a poet on Bach for the publication of "Thirteen Ways of Looking at J.S. Bach".