Taras BaginetsOrgel

On Reformation Day, music on the organ resonates in the Great Hall of the Gewandhaus, deeply rooted in the Lutheran soul. Two chorales form the central theme: 'Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott' and 'Vater unser im Himmelreich'. Melodies that have echoed through church halls for centuries and were further developed by many composers. Bach shapes them into sharp chorale arrangements, Mendelssohn lets the 'Vater unser' speak in a surging abundance, and Reger unleashes monumental sound cathedrals from them. In between, Liszt distills a grand prelude with fugue from the tones B-A-C-H, as if Bach were the foundation of all organ music. The Ukrainian organist Taras Baginets, founder and artistic director of one of the largest Bach festivals in Eastern Europe, knows how to give these works both weight and breath at the same time.