The 75th season of the Kalamazoo Bach Festivalconcludes with archangels telling the story of Genesis in Franz Joseph Haydn’s 1798 oratorio The Creation, at 7:30 pm on Friday, June 10 in the Dalton Theater of the Light Fine Arts Building at Kalamazoo College.
The work premiered in Vienna in 1799 with a German libretto. As music director Chris Ludwa tells Cara Lieurance, Haydn presented an English language version the following year in London. Ludwa says he wanted to present La Creación in Spanish as part of the festival’s mission to appeal to underserved groups; to celebrate Hispanic culture in Michigan; and to showcase the beauty of the language. He says the Spanish libretto succeeds in ways the English translation does not.
The Kalamazoo Bach Festival is also offering online access to the performance with an open “Virtual Dress Rehearsal” on Thursday, June 9 at 7:30 pm. This performance is the Michigan premiere of La Creación.