Debra Li

    NEARLY 1,000 people attended a free lecture by Hong Kong pipe organ professor Zhao Xiaoling at Shenzhen Concert Hall on Sunday afternoon. The subject of the lecture was Johann Sebastian Bach.

    The lecture was an appetizer to Thursday’s concert at the same venue by the Choir and Orchestra of the Bach Collegium, Stuttgart under the baton of Helmuth Rilling. Winner of the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize and the most renowned interpreter of Bach’s music working today, Rilling will bring a 70-member cast to perform masterpieces such as Bach’s “Cantata” and “Anthem.”

    “In German, the word ‘Bach’ means ‘creek,’” said professor Zhao. “But as Beethoven put it, Bach is an ocean, not a creek.”

    Starting with Baroque patterns and architecture, Zhao elaborated on the unique tributes of Baroque-style music. She also had two students sing and play excerpts of Bach’s music on the pipe organ.

    A composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist, Bach created more than 1,000 sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments that drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to maturity.

    “He did not enjoy great fame during his lifetime or in the half century after he died. But Mendelssohn rediscovered him, and musicians like Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven all admired him and were strongly influenced by him,” said Zhao.

    “Like the best Baroque art, Bach’s music infuses virtuosity and profundity. Listening to Bach’s melodious music is a surreal experience as if you are sitting in a grand cathedral where warm sunshine sheds upon you through painted glass windows,” she said.

    Although the lecture started rather late at 4:30 p.m., many audiences attended. Ms. Zhang, a young mother in her 30s, took her piano-learning daughter.

    “I like Professor Zhao,” she said. “We attended her free Sunday concert once and were struck by vivid presentation. Though her Mandarin is not perfect, my daughter loves to listen to her.”

    Free lectures are a great way of attracting new followers, according to Jia Yingbiao, spokesman at Shenzhen Concert Hall.

    “Classical music is still daunting to some of the uninitiated. Free lectures that include video and excerpts from masterpieces can serve as a good bridge to lead more citizens to embrace it,” he said.

    “And musical education is one of the goals of Shenzhen Concert Hall.”

    A concert of Bach’s music conducted by Helmuth Rilling

    Time: 8 p.m.,Oct. 20

    Venue: Shenzhen Concert Hall

    Hotline: 8284-1888, 8284-1820

    Tickets: 100-680 yuan