The Max Reger Festival Year was inaugurated on 22 and 23 of January 2016 with a concert at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Academy of Music and Theatre, which in Reger's time was known as the 'Royal Conservatory'. It was here that Max Reger - in addition to his appointment as director of music - was awarded his professorship.
The programme of the Max Reger Festival Year in 2016 is as diverse as the works of the master himself. The public will be offered a spectrum of musical events which are wide-ranging in their character and artistic depth, stretching from chamber music concerts and the multi-venue 'Long Reger Organ Night' via symphonic orchestral concerts with video projections right across to symposiums and lectures. All of the city's major musical institutions which are connected with the works of the master are involved in presenting the programme, including the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Academy of Music and Theatre, St Thomas Boys' Choir, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the University of Leipzig Faculty of Music.
Max Reger Festival from 8 to 20 May 2016
In May 2016 the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the University Orchestra and Choir, as well as all of Leipzig's churches and venues associated with the composer will be commemorating the centenary of Reger's death with his music. On the weekend of Whitsun all of Leipzig's musical institutions will be focusing on the music of Reger. Among other concerts the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Herbert Blomstedt will be performing the composer's piano concerto, which was first performed in Leipzig, while Gewandhaus organist Michael Schönheit will be dedicating the entire organ festival over the Whitsun period to the legacy of Max Reger.
The programme of events is highly diverse and covers performances of Reger's works, a ceremonial address, a conference, a festival concert, performances of solo compositions, the 'Long Reger Organ Night' in Leipzig's churches on 14 May 2016, a Bach Organ Festival at St Thomas's Church from 26 June to 6 August 2016, and the Leipzig Bach Festival from 10 to 19 June 2016.
Special exhibition at the Bach Museum Leipzig
From 4 March to 23 October 2016 the Bach Museum Leipzig is presenting the special exhibition "Alles, alles verdanke ich Johann Sebastian Bach! - Bach und Reger" ("I owe everything, everything to Johann Sebastian Bach! - Bach und Reger"). Max Reger once expressed his veneration for Johann Sebastian Bach, the Director of the St Thomas Boys' Choir, by saying: "In our modern harmonic structures there is nothing, no matter how complex it may be, which wasn't anticipated by Bach a long, long time ago."
Max Reger
Born in Brand / Upper Palatinate on 19 March 1873, Max Reger became famous most of all for his compositions for the organ. During his lifetime Reger's compositions were celebrated, but were also the subject of some controversy. He is regarded as one of the key figures of the dawn of Modernism, an artist who moved between the avant garde and tradition. Max Reger's musical development took place in the eventful period which heralded the start of the twentieth century. His opulent style of instrumentation combined with an adherence to formal traditional structures led to him being titled the "modern Bach". As a composer of church music Reger's work crosses denominational boundaries, and it is therefore fitting that the 100th German Catholic Congress will be taking place in Leipzig from 25 to 29 May, immediately following on from the "Max Reger Festival 2016". This series of commemorations will be complemented in 2017 by the events celebrating "500 Years of the Reformation".
More Information
Information about Max Reger Leipzig 2016: www.reger-in-leipzig.de