At Bach fest, Mendelssohn, jazz top McCartney on the charts (Orlando Sentinel)
ORLANDO SENTINEL ARTS CRITIC | FEB 28, 2021 AT 5:00 AM
The final weekend of the 86th annual Bach Festival went for variety — from a Mozart symphony to a composition by one Paul McCartney to Bach’s famed “Toccata and Fugue” arranged for a big band. What a bracing reminder that good music is good music, no matter the style.
On a two-concert Saturday, the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park first presented a selection of toe-tapping tunes in Central Park. You might not think of Bach as toe-tapping but here, some of his most famous melodies were set to a big-band jazz beat.
“I have this belief that if Bach were alive today he’d have a church gig in the day, or maybe a college job, but at night he’d play jazz,” said artistic director John Sinclair.