Handel and Haydn Society Makes Carnegie Hall Debut with BACH + TELEMANN

Handel and Haydn Society Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen will lead the 211-year-old ensemble in its Carnegie Hall debut, Bach + Telemann on May 14, 2026, then present this all-Baroque program at Old South Church in Boston's Copley Square on May 15 and Sanders Theatre in Cambridge on May 16. Soprano Robin Johannsen, countertenor Christopher Lowrey, tenor Guy Cutting, and bass-baritone Dingle Yardell join the H+H Orchestra to perform three moving funeral cantatas by Bach and Telemann alongside Bach's intimate Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, played on the period instruments this music was written for.

The pieces to be performed in Bach + Telemann set the standard for today's understanding of Baroque music with imaginative blending of instrumental colors, textures, and balance. Emotionally powerful vocal lines in the cantatas reflect on our common and limited humanity, but not without hope. The works showcase some of the most distinctive instruments of the Baroque period: the old-style viola da gamba (held between the legs), whose rich tone blends beautifully with both voice and other instruments, and theorbo, a large, 17th-century plucked instrument from the lute family that adds to the deep bass line. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 is the only concerto in the set that does not include violin; instead viola, cello, and two viola da gambas create a deep, lower-voiced timbre.

“I very much look forward to sharing this beautiful and profound program with audiences in New York and Boston,” said Cohen. “Hearing these intimate Baroque works performed on the instruments they were composed for and played by musicians who are deeply committed to this repertoire accentuates the beauty of the music. When immersed in the sound-world of Bach and Telemann, one finds inspiration and renewal.”

Program:

J.S. Bach: Cantata 4, Christ lag in Todesbanden

J.S. Bach: Cantata 106, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit

J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6