Bach marathon on Easter Monday

If you are in London on Easter Monday then head over to the Albert Hall for the Bach Marathon led by Sir John Eliot Gardiner (or stay at home and listen to it on the radio as BBC Radio 3 are broadcasting the whole event). There are nine hours of Bach's music, which might seem a lot but frankly barely makes a dent in his total output. The event runs from 1pm to 10pm and will include Bach's Singet dem Herrn, the Easter cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden (with the audience joining in the chorale) and the Mass in B Minor with Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque soloists. Other performers will include Viktoria Mullova, Joanne MacGregor, Alban Gerhardt and John Butt. There will be a discussion panel including Robert Levin. To co-incide with the performance and to mark Eliot Gardiner's 70th birthday on 20 April, his label SDG will be releasing his recordings of Bach's four Ascension Day cantatas completing the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage series. Further information from the Bach Marathon website.