The birthday of legendary baroque era composer Johann Sebastien Bach on March 21st, was celebrated with mini-concerts which took place in several special places, in and around Luxembourg city.
Luxembourgers and the tourists enjoyed this unique event in 2024, as in the last years, thanks to Luxembourg et l'Ensemble AD LIBITUM, "L'INECC", and several sponsors.
Although the name refers to "subways", which was the original event title happened in different cities of the world in the past, Luxembourg has modified it and used beautiful places which have no less fascinating acoustic than subways. Gare Centrale, Cathédrale, Letzebuerg City Museum, Musee National d'archeologie, Eglise St Matthieu, Churches, museums, as well as Université Campus Kirchberg and Eglise St Michel were among just the few of these unique locations.
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Luxembourg
My first stop was the organ concert in Cathédrale, where Sarah Ouyang, Marc Loewen and Tamara Rosselet had 20 minutes performances.
Magnificent Luxembourg-made organ1 and the special acoustic of the cathedral enabled a fantastic beginning to the musical journey of the day.
Letzebuerg City Museum
Luxembourg Clarinet Ambassadors, composed of Simone Weber, Jean-Luc Blasius, Conny Steinmetz, Romain Gross and Véronique Bernar. They performed 30 minutes lunch-time delight with Bach's famous suits.
Musée National de l'archéologie, d'histoire et d'art
In the afternoon, Archeological Museum hosted a very special performance. "The Bachtivisits", a clavecin duo composed of Jeanette Greiner and Frank Daro, played a selection of Bach suits elegantly.
Surrounded by the history and art, the divine sound of clavecins echoed in the heart of the city for 2 hours.
Eglise St. Matthieu
The last stop of the day for me was the Church in St. Matthieu. I was surprised by the fact that the Orthodox church had an organ, but amazed more with the Trumpet-Organ duo of Pierre Kremer (tr) and Paul Kayser (or).
Since I listened Henri Purcell's arias from Trumpet and organ duos, I have always dreamed to encounter with a live performance. It wouldn't worth more!
We should be grateful to the music of JS Bach and all the authentic and talented performers of today, as well as the successful organisation. I'm already looking forward to next year !
1 The organ played in the concert could be Orgue symphonique, by Manufacture d'orgues luxembourgeoise G.Westenfelder (Dalstein & Haerpfer1880, Haupt 1930), dated 1938 and renovated in 2022 but also be Orgue classique, by Manufacture d'orgues luxembourgeoise G.Westenfelder dated 1995.
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