George Hunka

Notes and comment

Category: Philadelphia

  • J. C. Bach, Mozart, Schubert

    The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, in rehearsal.

    My dance card for September seems to be rapidly filling up. On September 25 and 26, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia opens its 2026-2027 season with Mozart 40, a triple bill of music spanning the half century or so between the late Baroque and middle Classical periods, a span quite appealing to my own musical affections. David Hayes will lead the orchestra in Mozart’s 1788 Symphony No. 40 in G minor, which Charles Rosen called “a work of passion, violence, and grief” in The Classical Style; Hayes will follow this with Johann Christian Bach’s 1760-or-so Symphony in G minor, Op. 6 No. 6, “arguably the darkest and most dramatic he composed,” said Tom Service in the Guardian in 2014; and the program will close with Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, D. 485 of 1816, a conscious tribute to Mozart. “O Mozart! Immortal Mozart! what countless impressions of a brighter, better life hast thou stamped upon our souls!” went the slightly (though understandably) over-the-top appreciation Schubert wrote in his diary that year. Tickets are available now at this link.

    The rest of the Chamber Orchestra’s season looks similarly enticing, with a holiday presentation of three Brandenburg Concertos and an all-Haydn evening of his early symphonies on the schedule. More about the season here. A series of intriguing discussions about Bach and Beethoven accompanies this year’s concerts.

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  • Free Bach in Philadelphia

    St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.

    It looks like I got here just in time: Now in its second year, the Philadelphia Bach Collective is an ensemble offering free performances of Bach cantatas at the St. Mark’s Church in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square, and it’s just announced its 2026-2027 lineup. The first concert of the year, on Tuesday, September 22, at 1:00 pm, pairs Bach’s Jesu, der du meine Seele: BWV 78 with Telemann’s Concerto for flute and strings, TWV 51:G2. I’ll certainly be there, but I’ll especially be there in March, when the Collective joins with the New York vocal outfit TENET Vocal Artists for a rare Philadelphia performance of Bach’s St. John’s Passion. Spikier and darker than St. Matthew’s Passion, St. John’s Passion comes close to broody opera, and I suppose Bach has me there; I have fond memories of hearing it earlier this year in Vienna. I’ll very much look forward to revisiting this, one of the great masterpieces of the Baroque and, as such, one of the great masterpieces period.

    The Philadelphia Bach Collective is the brainchild of co-artistic directors Steven Zohn, Heather Miller Lardin, and Rebecca Myers, who put together the organization to “[make] the music of Johann Sebastian Bach accessible and relevant for audiences across Philadelphia … [and] offer regular opportunities to hear Bach’s cantatas in an accessible, informal setting.” Free weekday concerts of Bach? Sounds suspiciously European to me. And not only to me; the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Peter Dobrin wrote last year that the Collective’s concerts are “the kind of thing that, had you experienced it in Paris or Berlin, would make you say you wished we had that back home.” WRTI’s Meg Bragle called it “a gathering of friends and an invitation to the community” in this profile of the group.

    More information about the Philadelphia Bach Collective is here, and tickets are already available for the March St. John’s Passion. I won’t miss it.

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  • Corrupt and contented

    My move to Philadelphia is now complete, and I’ve even had the opportunity to attend services at Christ Church — something I’ve always wanted to do and a meaningful visit to be sure; on July 5 the Morning Prayer included a reading of the Declaration of Independence. Otherwise I’ve been spending some time reacquainting myself with the spirit of the city and find it more delightful every day. It is home.

    A minor curb on my enthusiasm has been Brett H. Mandel’s 2023 book Philadelphia, Corrupt and Consenting: A City’s Struggle Against an Epithet, a history and study of political corruption in Philadelphia, its title inspired by Lincoln Steffens‘ conclusion that Philadelphia is “corrupt and contented.” It is, actually, a fine book and a worthy companion to A Prayer for the City, Buzz Bissinger’s rather more optimistic 1997 portrait of Philadelphia under the Ed Rendell administration — a witty, informed, and informative read. Before diving into the swamp of Philly corruption, though, Mandel in his introduction describes his affection for the city, and it’s a good description of how I and many other native Philadelphians feel about the city as well:

    I want to make it clear that I love the City of Philadelphia despite all its flaws. I love the physical city: the buildings, the parks, and the strollable neighborhoods. I love the metaphysical city: the palpable history, the ideals of William Penn’s Holy Experiment, and the poignancy of more than three centuries of struggle to make a city where all can thrive. Most of all, I love Philadelphians’ collective lack of self-importance and the sense that we are all in this together. … I love the fact that Philadelphians know all too well what is wrong with our city, but the same enumeration of complaints from an outsider becomes fighting words. … I love that Philadelphians cheer for our teams as if our enthusiasm alone could make up for their dearth of talent, and I love that Philadelphians boo our teams when they don’t care as much about winning as we do. … Most of all, in spite of so much evidence telling us that the forces of the world are aligned against us, I love the fact that Philadelphians never give up. Philadelphia is a dirty city that still shines and a poor city that still has hope — a city of endless potential, no matter how many times we have failed to realize it.

    Take that, Lincoln Steffens. More anon.