Erfurt (dpa/th) – In order to make it easier for audiences with a small budget to visit the concert, the Thuringian Bach Festival has decided to take a special step: the visitors can decide for themselves what amount they can afford to buy tickets for. “I think it’s important that with us, as an organizer that is at least partially financed by the tax bag, everyone who wants to hear a concert can do it,” said festival director Christoph Drescher before the program presentation on Tuesday.
Prices for the festival concerts have been calculated and set as recommendations; however, these could be overwritten in the ticket system. The background is the burdens for many people associated with various crises, such as inflation. “Thanks to ‘Pay what you can’, everyone can visit the concerts, and you can decide for yourself whether you want to follow the suggested price, prefer to pay less or support this social situation with a higher sum,” says Drescher.
“Of course we also need income.” Ultimately, Drescher believes that the decision to use this pricing system does not involve any greater risk than cultural events would have experienced anyway in the post-pandemic period and during inflation. “There’s always the imponderability and the question of whether people will come.” In addition, the system has already been tested at individual concerts. More students than usual were among the audience. Drescher therefore also sees a kind of door opener in the model.
There are also visitors who pay more than the calculated price. About a third of the festival tickets are currently sold. “That corresponds to the dynamics in advance sales before Corona, like in 2019 or 2018.”
The Thuringian Bach Weeks combine baroque music, especially Bach compositions, with contemporary works. Visitors experience the festival program at authentic places where the composer (1685-1750) worked in Thuringia. These include Eisenach, Arnstadt, Erfurt and Weimar.
In the past, the festival, which was run by an association and financially supported by the state, attracted around 20,000 concertgoers every year. The corona pandemic caused a significant drop in visitor numbers, and last year around 14,000 visitors came to 47 events.
This year, 50 concerts are planned from March 31 to April 23. The motto is “Confidence”. The Collegium Vocale Gent, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, opens the festival with Bach’s “St. John Passion”. Guests include highly classical musicians such as the Dutchman Ton Koopman and the Academy for Early Music Berlin.
The Bach Weeks also retain a certain joy of experimentation: For example, the orchestra in the stairwell from Hanover will present the new program “Date Your Music”. The audience can use the app to help determine the course of the concert evening. An educational project within the festival is also special. The pianist and dying companion Nina Gurol worked with a school class in Eisenach on a program that combines the themes of music and dying, grief and hope.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:230321-99-34635/2
