Some people seek happiness by climbing every eight-thousander in the world; others set their minds on performing all of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas. But not one at a time, over the course of a lifetime and across changing seasons of artistic growth: the fearless performer takes on every single page consecutively, in a kind of musical marathon, evening after evening, undaunted by the immense effort, until the final, necessary note.

This ambitious project was realized in Cremona thanks to the commitment of the cultural association MAGMA APS, in collaboration with the Touring Club of Cremona and the Diocese of Cremona. The initiative stood out for its depth and for reaffirming a fundamental principle in a city like Cremona: the promotion of violin making should never be reduced to the promotion of the violin as a mere product. Rather, the violin is a living symbol, sustained by the music performed on it, by the musicians who bring it to life, and by the places animated through this symbiosis of sound and listening.

MAGMA APS embodied this vision exemplarily, coinciding with the very day on which Professor Anna Lucia Maramotti Politi, president of the Cremona branch of Italia Nostra, lucidly articulated the same concept during a compelling conference on the dangers of overtourism (curiously deserted by local institutional representatives of the sector). The musical event conceived by MAGMA, based on an idea by Martin Horvat, demonstrated robust cultural planning capable of intertwining practice and theory, violin making and music, research and audience engagement. In a city boasting an unparalleled and unique violin-making tradition, presenting the complete Sonatas and Partitas of Bach should not be an exception but a regular occurrence: a recurring appointment featuring performers of the highest caliber, offering both local audiences and visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in these masterpieces while comparing different interpretations over time.

Gregor Reinberg, the outstanding Viennese interpreter, offered the highly attentive and consistently numerous audience across all three evenings an experience that was almost religious in nature. Night after night, in an almost unreal silence, Reinberg quite literally traversed Bach, never asserting his own interpretative ego, but instead illuminating the music itself, allowing the sonic and spiritual architecture of the Sonatas and Partitas to emerge with absolute clarity. His reading was remarkably lucid, free from affectation, mannerism, or any kind of self-indulgent virtuosity: a Bach explored from within and returned with rigor, clarity, and profound expressive tension.

Making this immersion even more intense was the sound of the violin specially built for him by luthier Martin Horvat — an instrument born from a fruitful dialogue between performer and craftsman and created according to Reinberg’s own precise specifications. A violin of unusual dimensions, with a tone both clear and penetrating yet deeply human, designed by the Viennese luthier through mathematical calculations conceived specifically to address the challenge of varying measurements, enabling it to sustain Bach’s polyphonic complexity without ever losing consistency.

At the beginning of each of the three evenings, Horvat himself introduced the audience, with clear and engaging eloquence, to original and fascinating musicological theories inspired by the work of German musicologist Helga Thöne, as well as to interpretative reflections that informed the performance itself. In doing so, he provided invaluable listening keys and contributed to creating a rare balance between theoretical insight and the living experience of the concert. In this way, the entire project took the form of an authentic cultural and spiritual journey in which research, violin making, and interpretation merged into one great musical narrative.

It was a performance that delved into the very essence of Bach, transporting listeners through a musical journey of rare intensity and beauty; a celebration both for musicians, students, and luthiers — professionals who never tire of honoring their secular religion — and for all those who still value quality; an event demonstrating how great music, when approached with such humility, dedication, and awareness, transcends mere consumption to become a collective ritual.