Bach, unplugged with The Revolution Orchestra

“It sounds sudden, right?” laughs Roy Oppenheim, the orchestra’s co-founder and conductor. “But it’s actually not. Between Arik and Hagashash, we already did a Gershwin project, and years ago, a series called Digging into Classical. So, in a way, Bach has always been in our DNA. These are our roots, we come from both the classical world and the rock world, and this show combines them.”

“It’s not about taking Bach and just playing him on electric instruments,” says Zohar Sharon, the orchestra’s co-artistic director. “The common ground between Arik Einstein and Bach is that we start from a masterwork, something that’s part of our cultural DNA, and use it as raw material for something completely new. It’s not imitation. It’s dialogue.”

In the new show, four Israeli composers take on some of Bach’s most iconic pieces and transform them into original creations, part homage and part rebellion.

“We asked each composer to choose one work by Bach that inspired them,” Oppenheim explains. “The only condition was that it had to lead somewhere unexpected. The result is four completely different musical languages, all connected by Bach’s spirit.”

The first piece comes from violinist and composer Jonathan Keren, who has been teaching Bach for years. “He took the Prelude from Bach’s Partita No. 3 and wrote a new piece for himself, a violin, a looper, and orchestra,” Oppenheim says. “Bach is all about layers, one voice, then another, then another, so Jonathan builds it live, layer by layer, until the orchestra joins in. It’s mesmerizing.”

Next comes Zohar Sharon’s own piece, inspired by Bach’s Partita in A minor for solo flute, except that it’s performed on the bansuri, an Indian bamboo flute. “Even that alone changes everything,” Sharon grins.

“You suddenly hear Bach through a completely different world of sound. But I didn’t just play it on a bansuri, I took a few bars and built something entirely new. Someone who knows the original will recognize hints of it. Someone who doesn’t will just hear something that feels both ancient and new. That’s the fun, it’s Bach, but not really Bach.”

Accordionist Saleet Lahav takes a more playful route. Together with composer Avner Kelmer, she transforms Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto in F minor into a poetic, Brazilian-inspired journey. “The second movement,” Oppenheim says, “suddenly sounds like Bach after Satie, dreamy, meditative, and then it explodes into a rhythmic Brazilian groove. It’s Bach on vacation.”

The show’s fourth section brings in the Moran Singers Ensemble for a choral work by composer Gai Frati and writer Shahar Shamai, who dared to ask: What would Bach’s sacred music sound like in Hebrew?

“It’s not a translation of Bach,” Oppenheim explains. “It’s an entirely new piece built from his themes, written for choir and orchestra, with Hebrew texts. It’s beautiful, and a bit subversive. Suddenly you hear Bach’s melodies sung with Hebrew words, and it feels natural, even moving.”

“The power of Bach is that he’s everywhere,” Sharon adds. “Even if you’re not a classical fan, you’ve heard him in films, commercials, and even in pop culture. So part of the thrill is walking that fine line, keeping that familiarity, but taking it somewhere new. You want the listener to recognize something, but also to say, ‘Wait, what am I hearing?’ That tension is what makes it exciting.”

The concert ends with a colorful Concerto Grosso where the soloists, violin, accordion, and bansuri join forces with the choir. “It’s a big, happy finale,” Oppenheim says. “A conversation between equals. That’s what Bach is about for us, not hierarchy, not reverence, but dialogue.”

For The Revolution Orchestra, irreverence is a kind of love. “Sometimes musicians look at Bach’s scores with holy dread,” Oppenheim says with a smile. “As if you’re not allowed to touch it. But we see it as a playground. Bach is perfect, yes, but he’s also full of energy and humor. You can play with him; he can handle it.”

That sense of play has been central to The Revolution since it began in 2004. Whether exploring Israeli cultural icons or blending Gershwin with rock, their projects have always defied categorization. “We treat our audience as curious,” Oppenheim says.

“Some performances are familiar, others are more challenging, but always communicative. We stretch boundaries, but we never lose the connection. People come because they trust the experience, not just one show.”

“We’re always building bridges,” Sharon says. “Between classical and Israeli, between past and present, between the stage and the audience. It’s not about genres, it’s about curiosity.”

Oppenheim agrees. “Whether it’s Bach or Arik Einstein, we’re after the same thing – that spark when something familiar suddenly feels new. Bach gives us infinite possibilities. His world is huge; you can enter it from any door. And we’re inviting the audience to walk in with us.”

He smiles. “We promise, you don’t need to know anything about Bach to enjoy it. Just come curious.”