Guest
We know that it was the 24th birthday party for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen. And we also know that it was a particularly lavish birthday, with dancing, music and theatrical performances. And we know that Johann Sebastian Bach composed a serenade to celebrate the feast and that Hamburg's most famous theatre bass, Gottfried Riemschneider, was invited to sing. Of this composition we are left with the libretto but... not the music. Bach, however – like almost all composers – reused his best pages, adapting them to another text. So, we set out to find it! And here, after years of work, we present what was probably the Serenade performed on the evening of the 10th of December 1718 for Prince Leopold. A musicologist, a musician, a composer, a translator and... a lot of passion are the ingredients that finally allow us to relive that magical moment of music and splendour that amazed the guests of the Köthen court 325 years ago. Thanks to Karl Böhmer, Jörn Boysen, Carlo Vitali, F
