Music Is The Key

THIS IS THE END...

2012-01-24T16:25:00.001-06:00

The links for BACH Cantatas vol. 26 & 27 are now available.
These are the last posts of the blog.
I will post no more.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT THROUGH ALL THESE YEARS WHERE 600 ALBUMS OF MUSIC WERE SHARED

It is a shame to have to leave this project but the

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Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 27

2012-01-23T16:10:00.001-06:00

The Cantata Pilgrims observed the festival of Whitsun in the English county of Suffolk. Whit Sunday itself, and the Monday following, were spent at Long Melford and the concerts on those days were contained in Volume 26 of this series. The next day the pilgrimage fetched up at another church in the county, at Blythburgh.

Bach left only two cantatas for Whit Tuesday. In order to complete the programme Sir John elected to begin the proceedings with the Third Brandenburg Concerto. This was a very logical choice, not least because Bach had used the first movement of the concerto as the sinfonia to cantata BWV 174, which the Pilgrims had performed just the day before. In its original scoring for three each of violins, violas and celli, it is given a sprightly performance here.

The two cantatas that follow are both inspired by the gospel for the day, which is found in St. John’s Gospel, chapter 10, and which treats of Christ as the Good Shepherd. BWV 184, which is packed with pastoral imagery, opens with a wonderfully expressive and extended tenor recitativo, in which the singer is tellingly accompanied by a chirruping pair of flutes. This movement finds Christoph Genz in eloquent form. Even more engaging is the duet that follows. Here Gardiner and his players give an object lesson in the use of accents and dynamics to move the music forward with grace and purpose. The rhythms are lifted quite marvellously but it all sounds very natural. Lisa Larsson and Nathalie Stutzmann blend their voices delightfully but the eager, smiling tone of Miss Larsson ravishes the ear particularly. The text speaks of Christ’s ‘glückselige Herde’ (“happy flock”) and here the performers make what Alfred Dürr as described as a shepherd’s dance leap off the page.

Later in the cantata comes a tenor aria with violin obbligato. Dürr says that this “forms rather a colourless impression” but that’s not how it comes across on this occasion. Genz, Gardiner and the violinist (Kati Debretzeni?) imbue the music with a light, airy feel. The cantata ends not with a chorale – that forms the penultimate movement – but with a choral gavotte, though I have to say that it would require fairly sprightly dancers to be able to dance to this music at the lithe pace set by Gardiner.

BWV 175 is also replete with pastoral and shepherdly images. The first substantial movement is a yearning 12/8 alto aria in which the soloist, accompanied by a trio of recorders, longs for verdant pastures. Nathalie Stutzmann sings this quite beautifully, investing the music with lovely tone and just the right degree of emotional charge. Later comes a tenor aria for which Bach specifies a violoncello piccolo obbligato. Both singer and player are required to reel off almost endless passagework in a very demanding bit of writing. Christoph Genz and his cellist partner are fully equal to the challenges of this piece. Rather oddly, perhaps, Bach introduces a pair of trumpets for the bass aria. This is quite lavish scoring for just one movement but it’s a fine piece, celebrating the victory of Christ over death and the devil and it’s given full value here by Stephen Loges and the trumpet choir.

A few days later Gardiner and his team had moved north. In fact they reached the most northerly point on the whole pilgrimage, arriving at Kirkwall in Orkney to mark Trinity Sunday. This was a journey that was fraught with difficulties because unexpected last minute travelling delays meant that they were unable to fly to Orkney until the very day of the concert, thereby greatly foreshortening the amount of available rehearsal time and, surely, tiring out everyone in the party. All I can say is that these extraneous problems do not seem to have affected the quality of the music making in the slightest.

The opening cantata, BWV 194, was adapted by Bach from a longer cantata which was originally written for Cöthen some time between 1717 and 1723. In 1723 he employed the cantata for a service to celebrate the inauguration of a new organ at Störmthal near Leipzig and the following year he made a foreshortened version, cut down from the original twelve movements to just six, for his first Trinity Sunday in Leipzig. The cantata begins imposingly with a stately orchestral introduction in the style of a French Overture. Dotted rhythms predominate and I like Gardiner’s tempo, which accentuates the grandeur but at a sufficiently lively tempo to avoid any pomposity. Without a break a vigorous, celebratory chorus follows, superbly sung, before the orchestral material is reprised. This is a most impressive opening.

The first aria, ‘Was des Höchsten Glanz erfüllt’ (‘What the Highest’s light has filled’) is given to the bass, here the ever-reliable Peter Harvey. This is in Gardiner’s words, “one of those spacious, pastoral 12/8 movements.” Harvey sings this graceful, delightful aria with dignity, understanding and a lovely, even tone. The soprano soloist, Ruth Holton, has previously been encountered in Vol. 21 (see review). She has rather a light voice and it’s well suited to the demands that Bach makes of his soloist in the aria ‘Hilf, Gott, dass es uns gelingt’ (‘Grant, O God, that we succeed’) where vocal agility is a prerequisite.

When we reach BWV 176 there’s another demanding soprano aria and here I thought I detected occasional signs that Miss Holton was a bit pressed by the writing. On the other hand, the singing of the Monteverdi Choir in the opening chorus personifies assurance and conviction. This cantata is inspired by the gospel of the day (St. John, chapter 3), which relates the story of Christ’s conversation with Nicodemus. It is instructive, perhaps, that in the bass recitative (movement IV) Bach added a final line to the librettist’s text, paraphrasing a line from the gospel: “For all who but believe in You shall not be lost”. There’s a fine alto aria, accompanied by a trio of oboes, playing in unison, and Daniel Taylor does this very well. As Gardiner puts it “[Bach] signs off his second Leipzig cycle with this cantata crammed with provocative thoughts and musical exegesis.”

Next comes BWV 165, a much earlier piece that dates from Bach’s time at Weimar. Watery images abound in the text for this cantata, not least in the fluid soprano aria with which the piece opens. It’s a demanding piece and I like the vocal purity that Ruth Holton brings to it. Daniel Taylor impresses once again in the aria ‘Jesu, der aus grosser Liebe’, with its spare accompaniment by continuo only. The cantata contains two important recitatives for the bass soloist and Peter Harvey despatches both eloquently.

The final offering, BWV 129, is probably the best known of these cantatas. It’s another Leipzig piece, setting five stanzas from a 1665 hymn. Trinity Sunday is such an important feast in the Lutheran calendar that it’s slightly surprising, on the face of it, that this is the only surviving cantata for that day in which Bach pulls out all the celebratory stops. Here he adds three trumpets, drums, a flute and a pair of oboes to the orchestra and begins with a festive chorale fantasia. The choral sopranos have the cantus firmus around which the orchestra and the rest of the choir scurry jubilantly. There are no recitatives in this cantata but instead there are three fine arias. Those for bass and soprano are well done by Peter Harvey and Ruth Holton respectively but it’s to Daniel Taylor that the plum aria falls. He sings it beautifully and the gorgeous oboe d’amore obbligato is a perfect foil. However, for once I find myself a little unsettled by Gardiner’s tempo. It just seems a notch on the hasty side and as a result the expressive oboe line, in particular, doesn’t quite make the expressive points that I’d hoped to hear.

The concluding chorale is splendidly festive, providing a joyous conclusion to what Gardiner aptly describes as “a genial, uplifting work”. He records in his notes that the Kirkwall audience ”seemed a little resistant to the music’s charms.” I can’t imagine for the life of me why this should have been the case because I concur with his view that the performance, like everything else on the disc, was “spirited.”

Yet again there’s some incomparable music on both these discs and the standard of performance is uniformly high. Wherever they went on their pilgrimage Sir John and his team dispensed enlightenment and musical experiences that were as enriching as they were enjoyable. Collectors of this ever-impressive series should not hesitate to add this latest volume to their collection. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750

For Whit Tuesday
Brandenburg Concerto No.3 BWV 1048 in G major
1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Allegro
Erwünschtes Freudenlicht BWV 184
1. Recitativo: Tenor Erwünschtes Freudenlicht
2. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Alt Gesegnete Christen, glückselige Herde
3. Recitativo: Tenor So freuet euch, ihr auserwählten Seelen!
4. Aria: Tenor Glück und Segen sind bereit
5. Choral Herr, ich hoff je
6. Coro Guter Hirte, Trost der Deinen
Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen BWV 175
1. Recitativo: Tenor Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen
2. Aria: Alt Komm, leite mich
3. Recitativo: Tenor Wo find ich dich?
4. Aria: Tenor Es dünket mich, ich seh dich kommen
5. Recitativo: Alt, Bass Sie vernahmen aber nicht
6. Aria: Bass Öffnet euch, ihr beiden Ohren
7. Choral Nun, werter Geist, ich folg dir

For Trinity Sunday
Höchsterwünschtes Freudenfest BWV 194
1. Coro Höchsterwünschtes Freudenfest
2. Recitativo: Bass Unendlich großer Gott
3. Aria: Bass Was des Höchsten Glanz erfüllt
4. Recitativo: Sopran Wie könnte dir, du höchstes Angesicht
5. Aria: Sopran Hilf, Gott, dass es uns gelingt
6. Choral Heil’ger Geist ins Himmels Throne
Es ist ein trotzig und verzagt Ding BWV 176
1. Coro Es ist ein trotzig und verzagt Ding
2. Recitativo: Alt Ich meine, recht verzagt
3. Aria: Sopran Dein sonst hell beliebter Schein
4. Recitativo: Bass So wundre dich, o Meister, nicht
5. Aria: Alt Ermuntert euch, furchtsam und schüchterne Sinne
6. Choral Auf dass wir also allzugleich
O heil’ges Geist- und Wasserbad BWV 165
1. Aria: Sopran O heil’ges Geist- und Wasserbad
2. Recitativo: Bass Die sündige Geburt verdammter Adamserben
3. Aria: Alt Jesu, der aus großer Liebe
4. Recitativo: Bass Ich habe ja, mein Seelenbräutigam
5. Aria: Tenor Jesu, meines Todes Tod
6. Choral Sein Wort, sein Tauf, sein Nachtmahl
Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott BWV 129
1. Coro (Choral) Gelobet sei der Herr
2. Aria: Bass Gelobet sei der Herr
3. Aria: Sopran Gelobet sei der Herr
4. Aria: Alt Gelobet sei der Herr
5. Choral Dem wir das Heilig itzt

2008 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 27 SDG 138

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE: CD ONE / CD TWO

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 26

2012-01-23T16:00:00.001-06:00

It’s a measure of the importance of Whitsun in the Lutheran calendar that, like Christmas and Easter, the feast was celebrated over three days. This latest release in the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage series consists of two concerts given on consecutive days in the same venue, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford, in Suffolk details. This noble church, much lauded by Simon Jenkins in his book, England’s Thousand Best Churches, is one of the so-called Wool Churches and is mainly late-Perpendicular in style.

Readers who have been following the reviews of this series to date will know that one of its many notable features is the booklet notes. These are taken from a journal that Sir John Eliot Gardiner compiled during the Pilgrimage. It seems to me that his notes for this present volume are the finest to date. He writes with particular eloquence about the feast of Pentecost and Bach’s music for the festival and he’s particularly adept on this occasion at pointing out resonances between the theology of the feast, Bach’s music and the venue for the concerts.

The first concert – and CD – consisted of cantatas for Whit Sunday itself. Proceedings get off to a joyous start with the exuberant, trumpet-led chorus that opens BWV 172. The rhythms bounce infectiously and the trumpets ring out festively. The first aria in this cantata is one of Bach’s puissant bass and trumpet arias, ‘Heiligste Dreieinigkeit’. This is authoritatively dispatched by the German-born Greek bass, Panajotis Iconomou, a singer that I can’t recall hearing before, though he was a finalist in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2001. After this Bach provides respite and refreshment in the form of the easeful tenor aria, ‘O Seelenparadies’ This suits the light, heady voice of Christoph Genz admirably. I also relished the sensuous performance of the duet for soprano and alto, ‘Komm, lass mich nicht länger warten.’ The cantata ends with two choral movements. First comes a chorale, which is enriched by a countermelody for the orchestral violins. Then we are treated to a most welcome reprise of the opening chorus, which rounds off a very fine cantata in a splendid performance.

Next we hear the first of Bach’s cantatas entitled Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten, BWV 59. The origins of this piece, which dates from 1723 or 1724, are a little uncertain and Gardiner’s note is good on this point. I enjoyed the duet for soprano and bass with which it opens. The two trumpet parts that accompany the singers are surprisingly – and very effectively – restrained in tone. It’s somewhat unusual to find a chorale as the third movement. The bass aria that follows is a fine creation. It’s a lovely, lyrical inspiration in which a graceful vocal line is complemented by an equally suave violin obbligato. I admired the velvety tone that Panajotis Iconomou deploys here. The cantata lacks a closing chorale and it seems to me that Eliot Gardiner’s solution is a sensible one. He repeats the chorale that we heard earlier, but the choir now sings a different verse of the same hymn.

Bach revisited the text of Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten again in 1725. He re-worked some of the music from BWV 59 in this new cantata, BWV 74, and, apart from the opening movement, he set a different text. The opening movement of BWV 59 is transformed here into a four-part chorus. The music for BWV 59’s above-mentioned bass aria, ‘Die Welt mit allen Königreichen’, is now assigned to a soprano with an oboe da caccia obbligato. This re-worked aria, ‘Komm, komm, mein Herze steht dir offen’, is quite delightful and I share John Eliot Gardiner’s preference for this version of the music. The partnership of soprano and oboe da caccia has been encountered before, in BWV 1 (Volume 21), and I find it highly effective. Lisa Larsson is the accomplished soprano on this occasion. The dazzling tenor aria, ‘Kommt, eilet, stimmet Sait und Lieder’ is a real tour de force. Christoph Genz delivers this virtuoso piece superbly. As we shall see later, the mixture of lightness and steel in his voice is absolutely right for such music. The cantata also contains a hugely demanding aria for the alto soloist, ‘Nichts kann mich erretten’, which is distinguished in particular by the leaps that the singer is required to make from one extreme of his register to the other. It’s a dramatic piece and Derek Lee Ragin gives a graphic account of it. However, the timbre of his voice may not be to all tastes and I must admit a preference for Robin Blaze’s performance in Gardiner’s earlier account of this cantata, to which I shall come in a moment.

Finally we are given the superb cantata, O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe, BWV 34. This begins with one of the most exciting choruses in all Bach. This large- scale, celebratory piece is adorned with silvery trumpets and makes a most splendid impression here. The music is like the rushing of the Pentecostal wind itself and it’s hard to imagine it done with greater fervour than in this exuberant performance. The Monteverdi Choir surpass themselves with singing that is light and effervescent yet which has the requisite weight too. It’s tremendously disciplined yet it still sounds spontaneous. I can see that some eyebrows might be raised at the strong accents in the central section of the chorus but I love it. Gardiner says of this chorus: "In performance it generates colossal energy and elation" and that’s certainly the case here.

In the tenor aria that follows Christoph Genz’s singing reminded me of the splendid and sensitive work he did as the Evangelist in the performances of Christmas Oratorio with which the Pilgrimage began in December 1999. This is followed by the heavenly aria ‘Wohl euch, ihr auserwählten Seelen’. From his comments in the notes it’s clear that Nathalie Stutzmann’s performance made a deep impression on Sir John and I’m not surprised. She gives a serene account of the aria, which I find even more satisfying than Bernarda Fink’s fine performance in the earlier DG recording (see below.) The end of the cantata contains a stroke of genius, with the choir bursting in abruptly at the end of the bass recitativo. This is the prelude to "a typhoon of an orchestral finale" as Gardiner describes it, where choir and orchestra combine to bring what must have been a memorable concert to a jubilant end.

Collectors should note that Gardiner has recorded these four Whit Sunday cantatas, BWV 34, 59, 74 and 172 before. They were issued by DG in 2000 as one of the series of discs issued at the time the Pilgrimage was in progress (DG 463 584-2). The disc is still available, I believe, but it contains different performances, recorded under studio conditions in April 1999 and all the soloists on the DG disc are different, with the exception of Christoph Genz. This earlier disc is by no means eclipsed by the newcomer. However, the SDG accounts seem to me to have that indefinable ‘edge’, which perhaps stems from the fact that they are live performances. I’ve highlighted above a couple of points where I have a preference for the newcomer. What clinches it for me, however, is the opening chorus of BWV 172. Here the new version has more life and buoyancy. The tempo is fractionally faster and the rhythms seem that tiny bit more urgently sprung. Though the 1999 performance is excellent its successor is even more joyous: it’s a real winner.

The next day three more cantatas were given, all for Whit Monday. Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut, BWV 173 was a re-working of a 1717 cantata written while Bach was in Cöthen, to celebrate the birthday of Prince Leopold, his employer. In its adapted, liturgical format, as BWV 173, the cantata may well have been heard first in Leipzig in 1723 but Eliot Gardiner’s performance is of a further re-working of the score that Bach undertook in 1728. Christoph Genz’s combination of lightness of voice and steely ring, already noted in BWV 74, is again a source of pleasure in the gigue-like aria, ‘Ein geheiligtes Gemüte.’ The busy alto aria, ‘Gott will, o ihr Menschenkinder’ is not, perhaps, one of Bach’s most memorable inspirations. However, the following duet for soprano and bass is a delight. It’s something of a technical tour de force, as Bach moves through a succession of scoring, metres and keys. It’s very well done here.

Also hat Gott die Welt geliebet, BWV 68 is a work that, as Eliot Gardiner comments, "almost seems as if [it] were composed back-to-front" since it begins with what he terms a "lyrical and wistful" chorale and concludes with a much more dramatic chorus of the type that one might expect to find at the start of a cantata. However, as so often, Bach’s musical inspiration fits the text perfectly and the gentle, lilting rhythm of the opening movement serves to emphasise quiet joy that God sent his son to redeem the world. In this splendid performance both the singers and the instrumentalists are alive to every nuance of rhythm and dynamics. Both the second and fourth movements of the cantata were adapted by Bach from his ‘Hunt’ Cantata, BWV 208. The first of these movements is the celebrated soprano aria, ‘Mein gläubiges Herze’. Soloist Lisa Larsson conveys appropriately breathless joy. However, the extremely fleet tempo chosen by Gardiner may disconcert some listeners. This performance is a very different conception from, say, those by Edith Mathis (for Karl Richter) or the incomparable Agnes Giebel (for Fritz Werner) and it’s noteworthy that both of those performances last for over four minutes whereas Gardiner whips through the piece in 2:55. Miss Larsson’s singing isn’t anything like as full-toned as the other two ladies I’ve mentioned and, in fairness, I don’t think the tempo gives her the chance to be. The player of the obbligato violincello piccolo also sounds somewhat pressed. The other movement taken from the ‘Hunt’ Cantata is the bass aria. Bach gives his singer an accompaniment of no less than three gambolling oboes and a bassoon and I find the effect irresistible. The strong and energetic closing chorus is an exciting affair with a cornetto and three sackbuts doubling the choral parts.

The final cantata in what is a slightly short programme is Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte, BWV 174. The opening sinfonia is a memorable expansion of the first movement of the third Brandenburg Concerto. The expansion is to the scoring: Bach adds highly important parts for pairs of horns and oboes to the original string band and, in Gardiner’s memorable phrase unleashes a "living bombardment of instrumental sounds." Even longer than the sinfonia is the alto aria from which the cantata takes its title. This is an outstanding aria and it’s sung radiantly and expressively by Nathalie Stutzmann. I had reservations about Gardiner’s pacing of ‘Mein gläubiges Herze’ but that’s not the case here. I feel he adopts an ideal tempo for this heavenly aria. It flows with a beautiful inevitability, with two intertwining oboes enhancing the vocal line. The concluding chorale uses the same music that Bach used for the final chorale of St. John Passion and it makes for a very satisfying conclusion to another fine disc.

As this series unfolds I have come to value increasingly the Sunday-by-Sunday presentation. Not only does this seem to me to afford the most logical way to order an intégrale of the cantatas, but also it allows one to appreciate the way in which Bach responded in different ways at different stages in his career to the same liturgical and scriptural themes. That, in itself, I am finding to be an enriching experience.

The Pilgrim’s sojourn in Long Melford was another highly successful artistic enterprise. This pair of discs has given me enormous pleasure. The very high standards of performance, presentation and recorded sound that were set in earlier releases has been maintained and I strongly recommend this latest addition to what is fast becoming a very important and distinguished cycle of the cantatas. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750

For Whit Sunday
Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172
1. Coro Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten!
2. Recitativo: BassWer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten
3. Aria: Bass Heiligste Dreieinigkeit
4. Aria: Tenor O Seelenparadies
5. Aria (Duetto) con Choral: Sopran, Alt
Komm, lass mich nicht länger warten
6. Choral Von Gott kömmt mir ein Freudenschein
7. Coro Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten!
Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten I BWV 59
1. Duetto: Sopran, BassWer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten
2. Recitativo: Sopran O, was sind das für Ehren
3. Choral Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott
4. Aria: Bass Die Welt mit allen Königreichen
5. Choral Du heilige Brunst, süßer Trost
Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten II BWV 74
1. CoroWer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten
2. Aria: Sopran Komm, komm, mein Herze steht dir offen
3. Recitativo: Alt Die Wohnung ist bereit
4. Aria: Bass Ich gehe hin und komme wieder zu euch
5. Aria: Tenor Kommt, eilet, stimmet Sait und Lieder
6. Recitativo: Bass Es ist nichts Verdammliches
7. Aria: Alt Nichts kann mich erretten
8. Choral Kein Menschenkind hier auf der Erd
O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe BWV 34
1. Coro O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe
2. Recitativo: Tenor Herr, unsre Herzen halten dir
3. Aria: AltWohl euch, ihr auserwählten Seelen
4. Recitativo: Bass Erwählt sich Gott die heilgen Hütten
5. Coro Friede über Israel

For Whit Monday
Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut BWV 173
1. Recitativo: Tenor Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut
2. Aria: Tenor Ein geheiligtes Gemüte
3. Aria: Alt Gott will, o ihr Menschenkinder
4. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Bass So hat Gott die Welt geliebt
5. Recitativo (Duetto): Sopran, Tenor Unendlichster, den man doch Vater nennt
6. Coro Rühre, Höchster, unsern Geist
Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt BWV 68
1. Coro (Choral) Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt
2. Aria: Sopran Mein gläubiges Herze
3. Recitativo: Bass Ich bin mit Petro nicht vermessen
4. Aria: Bass Du bist geboren mir zugute
5. CoroWer an ihn gläubet
Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte BWV 174
1. Sinfonia
2. Aria: Alt Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte
3. Recitativo: Tenor O Liebe, welcher keine gleich!
4. Aria: Bass Greifet zu
5. Choral Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr

2006 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 26 SDG 121

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE: CD ONE / CD TWO

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 25

2012-01-21T07:05:00.002-06:00

The first of the two CDs in this set contains cantatas for the Fifth Sunday after Easter, recorded in what John Eliot Gardiner describes as the “unalluring” Annenkirche in Dresden. This was one of the few churches to survive the terrible bombing that the city endured in 1945. Apparently it owed its survival to an unusual architectural feature: a robust steel roof. In his notes Gardiner writes of the delicacy of the situation in which a largely British ensemble came to perform Bach in a city devastated by Allied bombs. They performed the programme on two consecutive nights and in the event, though the atmosphere at the first concert seemed somewhat tense, a more relaxed feeling pervaded the second concert.

The first work we hear, BWV 86, is an optimistic cantata, the mood set in the short opening bass arioso, in which Christ’s words are set: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it to you.” In this brief but telling solo Stephen Loges makes an immediately favourable impression, singing with warmth and authority. Of especial note is the next aria, ‘Ich will doch wohl Rosen brechen’. This contains a virtuoso violin obbligato, which is splendidly played (by Kati Debretzeni?), and which is an admirable foil for the agile singing of Robin Tyson. The other aria is for tenor and here Steve Davislim has a very demanding part to put across, not least because it includes some characteristic leaps up to very short high notes. It’s an ungrateful line at times and Davislim copes well though I think he sounds more comfortable, perhaps understandably, in other solos later on in the programme.

BWV 67 comes from the following year and, though the Epistle and Gospel would have been the same, this starts off in less hopeful vein than did BWV 86. As so often in Lutheran liturgy, the sinful nature of man is recalled. However, towards the end a more positive note is struck. Like BWV 86 the cantata opens with a vox Christi bass solo but this time there’s almost a note of reproach in the words, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name.” One of the highlights is a lengthy aria for alto accompanied by a pair of oboi da caccia. The aria, Gardiner says, is suffused with “a mood of sustained reverence and penitence.” Tyson makes a fine job of it.

Somewhat puzzling is the bass arioso, which forms the fifth movement. The text, again Christ’s words, is: “In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” One might expect comforting music here but Bach takes a different tack and the music is angular and rather severe in tone. Despite this surprise the mood of the music then alters and the following movement, a tenor aria, is heavenly. ’Ich will leiden, ich will schweigen’ is, in Alfred Dürr’s words, a siciliano of “overwhelming beauty… [that] brings the joyful affirmation that in our suffering we can rely on Jesus’ comfort.” In this number Steve Davislim, with a more grateful vocal line to spin, sounds more at ease than he did in BWV 86 and the performance is a delight.

The programme is completed by BWV 97. The occasion for which this cantata was intended is unclear though Dürr suggests it may have been intended as a wedding cantata Bach sets all nine verses of a seventeenth century hymn, including two recitatives and four arias among the verse settings. The cantata opens with a ceremonial French overture, which gives way to a lively choral fantasia in which the sopranos have the original hymn tune as a cantus firmus, around which the other three parts weave vigorous passagework. This movement finds the Monteverdi Choir in fine fettle. The aria that follows, described by Gardiner as a “proto-Schubertian lied”, features warm singing by Stephen Loges as well as a splendid bassoon obbligato.

Later there’s an extended tenor aria, well sung by Davislim, which features another very taxing violin obbligato. Dürr reckons that there must have been a good reason for Bach to write such a showy instrumental part. We’ve not heard much so far of Katharine Fuge, save for a brief chorale movement in BWV 86. However, she now joins Loges for what Gardiner wittily describes as “a catch-as-catch-can stretto for the two singers, part canzonet, part Rossini.” Miss Fuge acquits herself well here but we get a better chance to hear her in the lovely aria ‘Ihm hab ich mich ergeben’, which Gardiner aptly describes as “a carefree acceptance of God’s will.”

A week later, after an Ascension Day concert in Salisbury Cathedral, which I hope will feature in a future volume, not least because it presumably included BWV 11, the Pilgrims fetched up at the eleventh-century Sherborne Abbey in Dorset. The works on the CD don’t appear in the order in which they were performed that evening because the concert began with BWV 150. I suspect the reordering on disc is designed to keep apart BWV 44 and BWV 183.

BWV 44 is another cantata that opens with a vox Christi movement but, unusually for Bach, two singers – tenor and bass – are used. This short movement leads without a break into an animated chorus – “punchy and arresting” in Gardiner’s words - which is sung with real bite by the Monteverdi Choir. In his notes Gardiner points out that the chorus reminds one of the ‘Kreuzige’ chorus in St. John Passion, first heard only six weeks before this cantata’s first airing. Apparently it only consists of thirty-five bars, but it sounds much more substantial. The cantata also contains a wonderful, elegiac aria, ‘Christen müssen auf der Erden’. This is beautifully sung by Daniel Taylor, whose warm, round tone makes him sound almost like a female alto. He’s partnered by a most eloquent oboe obbligato player. My ear was also caught by the dramatic bass recitative in which Panajotis Iconomou displays power and resonance. After this there’s a fine, dancing soprano aria in which Joanne Lunn’s singing is bright and clear. She copes very well with what is a far from easy vocal line.

BWV 183 was written one year later. It shares with BWV 44 only the text of its first verse, which is a conflation of the first two verses of the earlier cantata. The cantata is dominated by a huge, slow aria for tenor with cello piccolo obbligato. Running in this performance to 10.30, the aria accounts for nearly two thirds of the entire cantata, aptly justifying Gardiner’s epithet “epic”. Throughout it’s length the tenor’s tortured line is underpinned by what Gardiner calls the “serene and luminous course” of the obbligato. Paul Agnew’s singing is exceptionally eloquent and his performance of this hugely demanding piece, which is a real test of technique and concentration, is very accomplished. But equal praise is due, and for the same reasons, to cellist David Watkin, whose contribution is on the same high level.

Mention should also be made of Joanne Lunn’s marvellously dexterous delivery of her aria ‘Höchter Tröster, Heilger Geist’. In this the oboe da caccia obbligato provides an excellent foil to her lithe, agile singing.

In between these two cantatas on the disc comes BWV 150. This is another cantata for an unspecified occasion and for the first time in the series to date, I think, we find a cantata repeated. This same work appeared in Volume 23 as part of a concert given in late April 2000 (see review). Gardiner says that in reviving the work he tried to achieve a number of advances on the earlier performance and it’s interesting to compare the two to attempt to judge how successful he was, though I must say the earlier account seemed very good to me. In the chorus ‘Meine Augen sehen stets zu dem Herrn’ he says the aim was to attain a “more sensuous, mezzo-tinted sonority”. I’d say he achieved his goal here. He sought greater harmonic clarity in another chorus, ‘Leite mich in deiner Wahrheit’. I don’t find it easy to discern whether or not this was attained: both performances sound convincing. However, I don’t think there’s much doubt that this present performance of the terzetto movement for alto, tenor and bass is the more successful of the two. Gardiner aimed for more graphic musical depiction of the accompaniment and once you’ve heard the Sherborne account the earlier effort sounds a bit tame. He also aimed for a greater sense of spaciousness in the closing chorus and, once again, I find it hard to decide if the newer account, which is a fine one, represents a significant advance on the previous rendition.

The programme closed with music by Bach but, on this occasion, by an ancestor of Johann Sebastian, his first cousin-once-removed, Johann Christoph Bach. The five-part motet Fürchte dich nicht is only short but it merits inclusion. Gardiner suggests that Johann Christoph might be the missing link between Schütz and J. S. Bach. He describes it as an “impressive and touching piece” and I agree. This is the first time so far in the series that we’ve heard music by another member of the very extended Bach family but it’s good to have this piece performed here with commitment and style.

The performance standards are consistently high throughout this pair of CDs. The engineering is good and, as ever, John Eliot Gardiner’s notes are stimulating, informative and convey a sense of the special atmosphere of this whole project. This is another impressive issue in this important series. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

For the Fifth Sunday after Easter (Rogate)
Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch BWV 86
1. (Arioso): BassWahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch
2. Aria: Alt Ich will doch wohl Rosen brechen
3. Choral: Sopran Und was der ewig gütig Gott
4. Recitativo: Tenor Gott macht es nicht gleichwie die Welt
5. Aria: Tenor Gott hilft gewiss
6. Choral Die Hoffnung wart’ der rechten Zeit
Bisher habt ihr nichts gebeten in meinem Namen BWV 87
1. (Arioso): Bass Bisher habt ihr nichts gebeten in meinem Namen
2. Recitativo: Alt O Wort, das Geist und Seel erschreckt!
3. Aria: Alt Vergib, o Vater, unsre Schuld
4. Recitativo: TenorWenn unsre Schuld bis an den Himmel steigt
5. (Arioso): Bass In der Welt habt ihr Angst
6. Aria: Tenor Ich will leiden, ich will schweigen
7. Choral Muss ich sein betrübet?
In allen meinen Taten BWV 97
1. Versus I. Coro In allen meinen Taten
2. Versus II. Aria: Bass Nichts ist es spät und frühe
3. Versus III. Recitativo: Tenor Es kann mir nichts geschehen
4. Versus IV. Aria: Tenor Ich traue seiner Gnaden
5. Versus V. Recitativo: Alt Er wolle meiner Sünden
6. Versus VI. Aria: Alt Leg ich mich späte nieder
7. Versus VII. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Bass Hat er es denn beschlossen
8. Versus VIII. Aria: Sopran Ihm hab ich mich ergeben
9. Versus IX. Choral So sei nun, Seele, deine

For the Sunday after Ascension Day (Exaudi)
Sie werden euch in den Bann tun I BWV 44
1. Aria (Duetto): Tenor, Bass Sie werden euch in den Bann tun
2. Coro Es kömmt aber die Zeit
3. Aria: Alt Christen müssen auf der Erden
4. Choral: Tenor Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid
5. Recitativo: Bass Es sucht der Antichrist
6. Aria: Sopran Es ist und bleibt der Christen Trost
7. Choral So sei nun, Seele, deine
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich BWV 150
1. Sinfonia
2. Coro Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich
3. Aria: Sopran Doch bin und bleibe ich vergnügt
4. Coro Leite mich in deiner Wahrheit
5. Aria (Terzetto): Alt, Tenor, Bass Zedern müssen von den Winden
6. Coro Meine Augen sehen stets zu dem Herrn
7. Coro Meine Tage in den Leiden
Sie werden euch in den Bann tun II BWV 183
1. Recitativo: Bass Sie werden euch in den Bann tun
2. Aria: Tenor Ich fürchte nicht des Todes Schrecken
3. Recitativo: Alt Ich bin bereit
4. Aria: Sopran Höchster Tröster, Heilger Geist
5. Choral Du bist ein Geist
Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703)
Fürchte dich nicht
Fürchte dich nicht, denn ich hab dich erlöst

2008 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 25 SDG 144

You can buy it on Amazon
You can download here: CD One / CD Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 24

2012-01-20T06:15:00.002-06:00

This set consists of cantatas for the Easter season. The superb BWV 12 is a Weimar cantata, dating from 1714 but heard here in its 1724, Leipzig, revision. Bach opens with a sinfonia, which is a profound meditation led by a keening oboe. Then he plumbs even greater depths in the succeeding extended chorus, which later became the Crucifixus of the B Minor Mass. The opening music of this chorus is performed with great feeling and exemplary control. The tempo picks up in a faster, contrapuntal central section, which puts one in mind of passages in the Motets. William Towers is in fine form for his recitative and aria, the latter being a particularly inspired invention. Julian Clarkson appears for the first time in the series to give a spirited reading of the short aria, ‘Ich folge Christo nach.’ Mark Padmore, on the other hand, is no stranger to the series. He’s a joy to hear in the musically and emotionally taxing aria, ‘Sei getreu, alle Pein’, which is decorated by a gentle trumpet chorale, marvellously voiced and placed here. Rounded off by a stirring chorale, this is a splendid performance of this profound cantata.

BWV 103 (1725) starts deceptively. As Gardiner points out perceptively in his note, the vigorous fugal opening chorus sounds joyful on the surface. However, that’s deliberately somewhat at odds with the sentiments of the text. He leads his forces in a robust account of this music. It’s an astonishingly inventive movement, both in terms of the music itself and also in respect of the scoring, in which an important soprano recorder part is prominent. This chorus seems to present most effectively to the listener the antithesis between sorrow and joy. Happiness is finally attained in the splendid tenor aria, ‘Erholet euch, betrübte Sinnen’. Both Mark Padmore and trumpeter Niklas Eklund make this hugely demanding aria sound almost easy in a performance of exuberant conviction.

BWV 146 is on a huge scale, lasting some 38 minutes in this performance. Bach adapted the first two movements of the D minor Harpsichord Concerto, BWV 1052a for the first two movements of this cantata. First comes a sinfonia for which, for once, the organ of the venue itself was used rather than the portable organ that was generally used throughout the Pilgrimage. As soon as we hear the mighty organ of the Schlosskirche, Altenburg it’s obvious why that choice was made. The instrument produces some wonderful sounds, especially in its lower reaches and though its action must have taxed the skills of organist Silas John Standage the results amply justify the pains he took. The sinfonia emerges here as an ambitious, grand canvass and it’s marvellously exciting – and entertaining – to hear it done like this. Bach himself is known to have played this instrument in 1739, shortly after its installation, so its use here is doubly justified. Gardiner’s marvellously apt description of it as a “Baroque ‘Mighty Wurlitzer’” is just another example of his ability to find the mot juste in his notes.

After the thrills of the sinfonia Bach grafts a four-part chorus onto the music of the slow movement of the concerto to transform it into a superb, sustained and intense choral meditation. The recording captures well the fine distancing effect that was achieved by placing the choir at the rear of the church for this movement. There follows a substantial alto aria, which is well sung by William Towers and graced by what is rightly described as a “radiant” violin obbligato. Brigitte Geller, a singer new to me, has had little to do in the concert up to now but she is heard to good effect in this cantata in a dramatic recitative and an aria that is more emotionally relaxed. I enjoyed very much the vigorous performance of the arresting and joyful tenor and bass duet, ‘wie will ich mich freuen’.

The following week the show moved on to Warwick, a late change of plan in the face of complications in Warsaw, which had been the intended destination for the Fourth Sunday of Easter. BWV 166, which was the first item on the programme, opens with a bass arioso. I thought that I detected a suggestion or two that Stephen Varcoe was not quite at his best here, the voice sounding just a little thin. But he’s a highly experienced singer and he still puts across words and music convincingly – and I have to say that I enjoyed his subsequent singing very much. James Gilchrist is in fine voice for the “serene meditation” of the aria ‘Ich will an den Himmel denken’. The alto aria, ‘Man nehme sich in Acht’ is an extrovert, virtuoso piece, which seems to test Robin Tyson, accomplished singer though he is. The cantata ends with a chorale, which begins most effectively, the choir hushed and a cappella. This provides a telling contrast to the outgoing alto aria that precedes it.

BWV 108, which dates from 1725, has some structural similarities with BWV 166, which had been composed in the previous year. Gilchrist has another demanding aria, this time a much more spirited one than that which fell to him in BWV 166. Once again he rises fully to the occasion. There have already been several opportunities in this series for him to demonstrate his prowess as a Bach tenor and this is another. In passing it should be said that on the evidence of the discs so far issued Gardiner has chosen his tenor soloists for this whole project particularly well. Besides Gilchrist the excellence of both Paul Agnew and Mark Padmore has already been noted. At the centre of BWV 108 lies a vigorous polyphonic chorus, which the Monteverdi Choir sings with tremendous assurance and spirit, after which Robin Tyson sings the important alto aria well.

Finally we hear BWV 117. The date of composition of this cantata is uncertain; it dates from between 1728 and 1731 and the occasion for which it was penned is not certain. However, it fits in well with the two companion works in this programme, not least in terms of its subject matter. Gardiner is surely right to suggest in his notes that whatever the occasion was it was a significant one. It opens with a celebratory and positive chorus, which later reappears to close the work. Though Bach eschews the use of trumpets here the music is still very festive in tone. There’s another fine tenor aria to enjoy and an equally imposing, more reflective one for the bass. Both are stylishly sung by Messrs. Gilchrist and Varcoe respectively. There’s also an engagingly perky alto aria and I found this piece, and Robin Tyson’s singing of it a delight.

[This volume] in this evolving series continue[s] in every respect the extremely high standards set in the previous issues. There are currently two other significant Bach cantata cycles in progress. These are the surveys by Ton Koopman and by Masaaki Suzuki. Both series have attracted much praise and though I haven’t heard any of the Koopman discs, other than on the radio, those from the Suzuki cycle that have come my way have impressed me very much. I am not really in a position to make any detailed comparisons between these rival cycles. What I will say, however, is that this Gardiner series is so far very fine indeed and is promising much. The fact that his performances stem from live performances does give them a certain ambience and immediacy, I think. Of course, one doesn’t know how much editing has taken place (I understand that the dress rehearsals were also taped as a precaution). However, my guess would be that editing has been kept to a minimum; these performances consistently have the feel of a genuine performance and, indeed, convey a palpable sense of occasion.

If you’re already collecting either the Koopman or Suzuki cycles then economic realities will probably prevent you from collecting the Gardiner discs as well. Even so I’d recommend sampling this intriguing and stimulating series. If pressed to choose from the sets that have been released to date I think I’d plump for Volume 1, which was discussed in my previous survey, and Volume 14. However, all the five sets I’ve heard to date are excellent and will give much pleasure.

This is shaping up to be a series of considerable importance and, of course, if it can be completed, it will have the distinction of being the first Bach cantata cycle to be composed entirely of live performances. I recommend [this] latest [addition] to the series with great enthusiasm. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750

For the Third Sunday after Easter (Jubilate)
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen BWV 12
1. Sinfonia
2. CoroWeinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen
3. Recitativo: Alt Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal
4. Aria: Alt Kreuz und Krone sind verbunden
5. Aria: Bass Ich folge Christo nach
6. Aria con Choral: Tenor Sei getreu, alle Pein
7. ChoralWas Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
Ihr werdet weinen und heulen BWV 103
1. Coro e Arioso: Bass Ihr werdet weinen und heulen
2. Recitativo: TenorWer sollte nicht in Klagen untergehn
3. Aria: Alt Kein Arzt ist außer dir zu finden
4. Recitativo: Alt Du wirst mich nach der Angst
5. Aria: Tenor Erholet euch, betrübte Sinnen
6. Choral Ich hab dich einen Augenblick
Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal in das Reich Gottes eingehen BWV 146
1. Sinfonia
2. Coro Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal
3. Aria: Alt Ich will nach dem Himmel zu
4. Recitativo: Sopran Ach! wer doch schon im Himmel wär!
5. Aria: Sopran Ich säe meine Zähren
6. Recitativo: Tenor Ich bin bereit
7. Aria (Duetto): Tenor, Bass Wie will ich mich freuen
8. Choral Denn wer selig dahin fähret

For the Fourth Sunday after Easter (Cantate)
Wo gehest du hin? BWV 166
1. Arioso: BassWo gehest du hin?
2. Aria: Tenor Ich will an den Himmel denken
3. Choral: Sopran Ich bitte dich, Herr Jesu Christ
4. Recitativo: Bass Gleichwie die Regenwasser bald verfließen
5. Aria: Alt Man nehme sich in Acht
6. ChoralWer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende!
Es ist euch gut, dass ich hingehe BWV 108
1. Aria: Bass Es ist euch gut, dass ich hingehe
2. Aria: Tenor Mich kann kein Zweifel stören
3. Recitativo: Tenor Dein Geist wird mich also regieren
4. CoroWenn aber jener, der Geist der Wahrheit
5. Aria: AltWas mein Herz von dir begehrt
6. Choral Dein Geist, den Gott vom Himmel gibt
Sei Lob und Ehr dem höchsten Gut BWV 117
1. Coro Sei Lob und Ehr dem höchsten Gut
2. Recitativo: Bass Es danken dir die Himmelsheer
3. Aria: TenorWas unser Gott geschaffen hat
4. Choral Ich rief dem Herrn in meiner Not
5. Recitativo: Alt Der Herr ist noch und nimmer nicht
6. Aria: BassWenn Trost und Hülf ermangeln muss
7. Aria: Alt Ich will dich all mein Leben lang
8. Recitativo: Tenor Ihr, die ihr Christi Namen nennt
9. Coro So kommet vor sein Angesicht

2005 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 24 SDG 107

You can buy it on Amazon
You can download here: CD One / CD Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 23

2012-01-14T17:15:00.003-06:00

Volume 22 of this series contained cantatas for Easter Sunday and the succeeding two days, performed at the church in Eisenach where Bach was baptised and sang as a boy chorister. For the following Sunday, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Cantata Pilgrims travelled some thirty miles to Arnstadt, where Bach served as organist between 1703 and 1707.

Though cantata BWV 150 is not an Easter cantata - indeed, it’s for an unspecified occasion - its inclusion in the Arnstadt programme was appropriate since it’s now widely believed that this was Bach’s first cantata, composed around 1707/8 and, as such, probably written for this very church. The piece is rooted firmly in the seventeenth-century German cantata tradition and, unsurprisingly, one feels that the young Bach has yet fully to find his voice in this medium. Nonetheless it’s technically very assured and the musical response to the text is typically thoughtful. There aren’t too many solo opportunities but Gillian Keith impresses in the soprano aria ‘Doch bin und bleibe ich vergnügt’. The contribution of the Monteverdi Choir is, characteristically, first class and in particular they project strongly the chorus ‘Leite mich in deiner Wahrheit’.

BWV 67 comes from 1724, the first Leipzig cycle, and shows how far Bach had travelled musically since his Arnstadt days. For a start the orchestral scoring is much fuller, reflecting the more abundant resources available to Bach in Leipzig. But the music is much finer also. The magnificent opening chorus finds the Monteverdi Choir – and Bach – in inspired form. The following tenor aria, ‘Mein Jesus ist erstanden’ is a superb creation, a real proclamation of confident faith in the Resurrection. Gardiner sets a challenging tempo but Charles Daniels negotiates the aria’s difficulties very well. The bass aria with chorale, ‘Friede sei mit euch!’ is the core of the work. There are several turbulent passages for strings and chorus, in which Gardiner really whips up a tempest, and each time calm is restored by the bass, as Jesus. Stephen Varcoe sings these pacific passages with dignity and feeling. However, to my ears his voice sounds, at this stage in his career, just a little grey and he also lacks the amplitude at the bottom of his range that we’ve heard from, say, Peter Harvey in other volumes in this series. This is a magnificent cantata and, that one reservation apart, Gardiner and his forces give a fine account of it.

BWV 42, which comes from the 1725 jahrgang is on a much bigger scale and is introduced by a vigorous, eager sinfonia. At its heart – and, at 12:32, accounting for nearly half the length of the whole cantata – is the alto aria, ‘Wo zwei und drei versammlet sind’. These recordings are assembled from two performances on consecutive days and I was fascinated to read in Gardiner’s notes that he found his feelings about this aria were different at each performance. He confides “I found it almost unbearably pained and sad at our first performance and far more serene and consoling at the second.” Which account is preserved on the CD, I wonder? Perhaps the truth lies somewhere between the two poles, with Bach illustrating the bittersweet feeling of the first disciples that Christ is with them always – but no longer in this world as they have previously known him? In this performance the pair of obbligato oboes intertwine plaintively and Daniel Taylor’s singing is beautifully plangent and most eloquent. Whatever interpretation one draws from the music it’s sublime. Stephen Varcoe copes pretty well with the bass aria in this cantata though, again, I’d have liked a bit more “bottom” in the voice, well though he puts across the piece.

The final cantata in this concert, BWV 158, is actually for Easter Tuesday but apart from anything else its inclusion is an appropriate link with BWV 67. Actually, as Alfred Dürr points out, Bach also used this cantata sometimes for the Feast of the Purification (February 2) since the text is apposite for that day as well. In essence it’s a cantata for solo bass. The gentle recitativo and the world-weary aria. ‘Welt, ade, ich bin dein müde’ suits Stephen Varcoe’s light-ish voice well. He makes an excellent contribution to this cantata. In the aria, the ravishing, elaborate violin obbligato is marvellously played by Alison Bury and the choir’s sopranos sing their chorale interjections beautifully.

For the following week’s concert the pilgrims journeyed to Luxembourg. All three cantatas on this programme were inspired by the concept of Christ as the Good Shepherd and were founded on Psalm 23.

BWV 104 opens with a fine chorus in 9/8 time. Gardiner and his musicians impart a lovely lilt to the music and the excellent choral singing allows every strand of Bach’s argument to come through. The tenor, Norbert Meyn, makes his first appearance in this series to date. In the anxious aria ‘Verbirgt mein Hirte sich zu lange’ he just sounds a touch uncomfortable in comparison with some of his tenor colleagues that we’ve heard in earlier releases. The bass aria, ‘Beglückte Herde, Jesu Schafe’ is a wonderful pastoral piece in 12/8. Stephen Varcoe gives a good account of it, catching the mood of the music very well.

In the alto aria of BWV 85 William Towers sings very well. Sir John rightly draws attention in his notes to the special colouring imparted by the tenor range of the obbligato ‘cello piccolo in this aria. Prepared by a charged recitativo, the tenor aria ‘Seht, was die Liebe tut’ is a wonderfully eloquent bit of writing and Meyn puts it over very well.

BWV 112 is a paraphrase of Psalm 23 and its splendid opening chorus is the most obviously celebratory piece we’ve heard thus far and the addition of a pair of horns to the orchestra enriches the timbres significantly. The next two verses of the paraphrase are allocated respectively to the alto and bass soloists. Both do well, Towers singing his pastoral aria very pleasingly and Varcoe eloquently phrasing his recitativo. The soprano/tenor duet is a jubilant movement and Katharine Fuge and Norbert Meyn combine enthusiastically.

This, then, is another absorbing and splendidly performed release in this very important series. The orchestral playing is consistently of a very high order. Sir John comments in his notes, which are splendid and perceptive as ever, that “One is dumbfounded by the peerless craftsmanship of [Bach’s] weekly and seasonal output.” I am no less admiring of the skill and dedication of Gardiner and his team who, week in, week out, were producing such thoughtful and superbly executed performances during their year-long pilgrimage, the fruits of which are now, thankfully, preserved on disc in this very fine cantata cycle. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750
Cantatas Vol 23: Arnstadt/Echternach
For the First Sunday after Easter
(Quasimodogeniti)
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich BWV 150
1. Sinfonia
2. Coro Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich
3. Aria: Sopran Doch bin und bleibe ich vergnügt
4. Coro Leite mich in deiner Wahrheit
5. Aria (Terzetto): Alt, Tenor, Bass Zedern müssen von den Winden
6. Coro Meine Augen sehen stets zu dem Herrn
7. Coro Meine Tage in den Leiden
Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ BWV 67
1. Coro Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ
2. Aria: Tenor Mein Jesus ist erstanden
3. Recitativo: Alt Mein Jesu, heißest du des Todes Gift
4. Choral Erschienen ist der herrlich Tag
5. Recitativo: Alt Doch scheinet fast
6. Aria: Bass e Coro Friede sei mit euch!
7. Choral Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ
Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats BWV 42
1. Sinfonia
2. Recitativo: Tenor Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats
3. Aria: AltWo zwei und drei versammlet sind
4. Choral (Duetto): Sopran, Tenor Verzage nicht, o Häuflein klein
5. Recitativo: Bass Man kann hiervon ein schön Exempel sehen
6. Aria: Bass Jesus ist ein Schild der Seinen
7. Choral Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich
Der Friede sei mit dir BWV 158
(For Easter Tuesday)
1. Recitativo: Bass Der Friede sei mit dir
2. Aria: Bass con Choral Welt, ade, ich bin dein müde
3. Recitativo ed Arioso: Bass Nun, Herr, regiere meinen Sinn
4. Choral Hier ist das rechte Osterlamm

For the Second Sunday after Easter
(Misericordias Domini)
Du Hirte Israel, höre BWV 104
1. Coro Du Hirte Israel, höre
2. Recitativo: Tenor Der höchste Hirte sorgt vor mich
3. Aria: Tenor Verbirgt mein Hirte sich zu lange
4. Recitativo: Bass Ja, dieses Wort ist meiner Seelen Speise
5. Aria: Bass Beglückte Herde, Jesu Schafe
6. Choral Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt
Ich bin ein guter Hirt BWV 85
1. Aria: Bass Ich bin ein guter Hirt
2. Aria: Alt Jesus ist ein guter Hirt
3. Choral: Sopran Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt
4. Recitativo: TenorWenn die Mietlinge schlafen
5. Aria: Tenor Seht, was die Liebe tut
6. Choral Ist Gott mein Schutz und treuer Hirt
Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt BWV 112
1. Versus I: Coro Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt
2. Versus II: Alt Zum reinen Wasser er mich weist
3. Versus III: Bass Und ob ich wandelt im finstern Tal
4. Versus IV: Sopran, Tenor Du bereitest für mir einen Tisch
5. Versus V: Choral Gutes und die Barmherzigkeit

2007 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 23 SDG 131

You can buy it on Amazon
You can download here: CD One / CD Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 22

2012-01-12T17:10:00.000-06:00

Easter 2000 had strong historical resonances for Sir John Eliot Gardiner's cantata pilgrims, as these outstanding works were performed in St George's, Eisenach, where Bach was baptised, and only a stone's throw from Wartburg Castle where Luther completed his New Testament translations. One can only guess what inspired an unusually visceral reading of Christ lag in Todesbanden (arguably Bach's first great creation), with a plethora of extremes from the Monteverdi Choir. One might quibble with moments where orchestral gestures are a little exaggerated but this is a performance where the sinuous lines and the momentum of liturgical ritual allow Luther's great hymn to take us tantalisingly to the brink of Christ's victory.
The Easter cantatas receive some ebullient readings. Etfreut euch boasts one of Bach's longest choral movements and the composer (and Gardiner) demands vigilance from his virtuoso ensemble, whose roulades of quicksilver scales shed all the fear of the preceding weeks. Despite a few uncertainties in the chromatic solos of the middle section, this is a powerful account whose spiritual core is found in the central recitative-duet between the allegorical characters Hope and Fear.
The presence of James Gilchrist in any Bach recording raises the stakes and his singing in the little-known pearl Ein Herz is an infectious display of the new believer's ecstatic joy, expressed disarmingly in his first aria and reinforced in the duet with alto "Wir danken and preisen".
This latest volume continues to present the riches of the Pilgrimage with admirable consistency; rough edges aside, there is a unique sense of exploration and devotion to the music which comes from the palpable adrenalin of live performance in an oeuvre which has, historically, been studio-bound. Bleib' bei tins, with its strong St John Passion undertones, is an embodiment of the best in the millennial journey and receives one of the most concentrated and telling performances on disc.
[Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Gramophone)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750
Cantatas Vol 22: Eisenach
For Easter Sunday
Christ lag in Todesbanden BWV 4
1. Sinfonia
2. Versus I: Coro Christ lag in Todesbanden
3. Versus II: Sopran, Alt Den Tod niemand zwingen kunnt
4. Versus III: Tenor Jesus Christus, Gottes Sohn
5. Versus IV: Coro Es war ein wunderlicher Krieg
6. Versus V: Bass Hier ist das rechte Osterlamm
7. Versus VI: Sopran, Tenor So feiern wir das hohe Fest
8. Versus VII: Choral Wir essen und leben wohl
Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret BWV 31
1. Sonata
2. Coro Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret
3. Recitativo: Bass Erwünschter Tag! Sei, Seele, wieder froh!
4. Aria: Bass Fürst des Lebens, starker Streiter
5. Recitativo: Tenor So stehe dann, du gottergebne Seele
6. Aria: Tenor Adam muss in uns verwesen
7. Recitativo: Sopran Weil dann das Haupt sein Glied
8. Aria con Choral: Sopran Letzte Stunde, brich herein
9. Choral So fahr ich hin zu Jesu Christ
For Easter Monday
Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen BWV 66
1. Coro Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen
2. Recitativo: Bass Es bricht das Grab und damit unsre Not
3. Aria: Bass Lasset dem Höchsten ein Danklied erschallen
4. Recitativo (Dialogo) ed Arioso (Duetto): Tenor, Alt
Bei Jesu Leben freudig sein
5. Aria (Duetto): Alt, Tenor Ich fürchte zwar des Grabes Finsternissen
6. Choral Halleluja! Halleluja! Halleluja!

Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden BWV 6
1. Coro Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden
2. Aria: Alt Hochgelobter Gottessohn
3. Choral: Sopran Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ
4. Recitativo: Bass Es hat die Dunkelheit
5. Aria: Tenor Jesu, lass uns auf dich sehen
For Easter Tuesday
Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß BWV 134
1. Recitativo: Tenor, Alt Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß
2. Aria: Tenor Auf, Gläubige, singet die lieblichen Lieder
3. Recitativo: Tenor, Alt Wohl dir, Gott hat an dich gedacht
4. Aria (Duetto): Alt, Tenor Wir danken und preisen dein brünstiges Lieben
5. Recitativo: Tenor, Alt Doch würke selbst den Dank in unserm Munde
6. Coro Erschallet, ihr Himmel, erfreue dich, Erde
Ich lebe, mein Herze, zu deinem Ergötzen BWV 145
1. Aria (Duetto): Tenor, Sopran Ich lebe, mein Herze, zu deinem Ergötzen
2. Recitativo: Tenor Nun fordre, Moses, wie du willt
3. Aria: Bass Merke, mein Herze, beständig nur dies
4. Recitativo: Sopran Mein Jesus lebt
5. Choral Drum wir auch billig fröhlich sein
6. Choral Beweis dein Macht, Herr Jesu Christ

2007 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 22 SDG 128

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You can download here: CD One / CD Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 21

2012-01-10T15:55:00.000-06:00

This eclectic selection covers works for Quinquagesima, the Annunciation, Palm Sunday and Oculi (the third Sunday in Lent) in arguably the least even of the seven releases so far. Yet there are significant contributions smattered throughout, not least Nathalie Stutzmann's purple-clad Widerstehe (BVVV54). This true contralto imparts a captivating resilience in the face of sin's devious tricks. Inspired by the chamber-like ecclesiastical works of Bach's Weimar period, the reduced string ensemble lends a similar intimacy to BWV182, though both works suffer from some scrappy playing that clearly could not be rectified simply by dropping in 'patches' from before or after. Stutzmann, however, projects just the right sense of involvement without forcing the issue.

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (BWV1) is the major work here — a masterpiece of understated majesty and gentle celebration (for the Annunciation) where Bach appears to alight on the morning star as a direct resonance of Epiphany; such musical connections within the cantata oeuvre, throughout the church calendar, provide listeners with endless sources of fascination. Gardiner's performance is more an example of a splendid occasion captured rather than a notable addition to a distinguished discography.

BVVV22 and 23 were Bach's first cantatas to have been performed at Leipzig, audition pieces for the post of Thomascantor before his eventual appointment. Both were performed in the same service on the morning of February 7, 1723. Given the Lenten context, Bach hardly had a chance to flex his muscles in opulent displays of orchestration but he makes up for this with two pieces of subtle stylistic range. Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe (BWV22) is strikingly prescient of Passion narrative as Christ prepares for his death with melismas of distilled sadness and acceptance of destiny. Peter Harvey's is an affecting performance, as is the incrementally impressive Du wahrer Gott (BWV23), of which Gardiner completely has the measure.

One special movement to bottle? 'Es ist vollbracht' from BVVV159 arguably even better than the setting of the words at the end of the St John Passion. Heartfelt singing from Harvey is adorned by playing from oboist Marcel Ponseele which is as exquisite as you'll ever hear. (Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Gramophone)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750

For Quinquagesima
Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe BWV 22
1. Arioso: Tenor, Bass e Coro Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe
2. Aria: Alt Mein Jesu, ziehe mich nach dir
3. Recitativo: Bass Mein Jesu, ziehe mich
4. Aria: Tenor Mein Alles in allem, mein ewiges Gut
5. Choral Ertöt uns durch dein Güte
Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn BWV 23
1. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Alt Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn
2. Recitativo: Tenor con Choral Ach! gehe nicht vorüber
3. Coro Aller Augen warten, Herr
4. Choral Christe, du Lamm Gottes
Herr Jesu Christ, wahr’ Mensch und Gott BWV 127
1. Coro (Choral) Herr Jesu Christ, wahr’ Mensch und Gott
2. Recitativo: Tenor Wenn alles sich zur letzten Zeit entsetzet
3. Aria: Sopran Die Seele ruht in Jesu Händen
4. Recitativo ed Aria: Bass Wenn einstens die Posaunen schallen
5. Choral Ach, Herr, vergib all unsre Schuld
Sehet! Wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem BWV 159
1. Arioso: Bass e Recitativo: Alt Sehet! Wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem
2. Aria: Alt con Choral: Sopran Ich folge dir nach
3. Recitativo: Tenor Nun will ich mich
4. Aria: Bass Es ist vollbracht
5. Choral Jesu, deine Passion
BWV 127 Appendix
Coro (Choral) Herr Jesu Christ, wahr’ Mensch und Gott

CD 2
For the Annunciation/Palm Sunday/Oculi
Himmelskönig, sei willkommen BWV 182
(For Palm Sunday/Annunciation)
1. Sonata
2. Coro Himmelskönig, sei willkommen
3. Recitativo: Bass Siehe, ich komme
4. Aria: Bass Starkes Lieben
5. Aria: Alt Leget euch dem Heiland unter
6. Aria: Tenor Jesu, lass durch Wohl und Weh
7. Choral (Coro) Jesu, deine Passion
8. Coro So lasset uns gehen in Salem der Freuden
Widerstehe doch der Sünde BWV 54
(For the Third Sunday in Lent (Oculi))
1. Aria: Alt Widerstehe doch der Sünde
2. Recitativo: Alt Die Art verruchter Sünden
3. Aria: Alt Wer Sünde tut, der ist vom Teufel
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern BWV 1
(For the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
1. Coro Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
2. Recitativo: Tenor Du wahrer Gottes und Marien Sohn
3. Aria: Sopran Erfüllet, ihr himmlischen göttlichen Flammen
4. Recitativo: Bass Ein irdscher Glanz, ein leiblich Licht
5. Aria: Tenor Unser Mund und Ton der Saiten
6. Choral Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh

2006 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact discs
Volume 21 SDG 118

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Eliesha Nelson - Glen Inanga RUSSIAN VIOLA SONATAS

2012-01-08T13:32:00.000-06:00

When thinking about Russian viola sonatas, a limited list of compositions may initially spring to mind, perhaps beginning and ending with the Shostakovich sonata. Violist Eliesha Nelson is out to prove that Shostakovich was certainly not the only Russian composer who wrote duo chamber music for her instrument. Joined by pianist Glen Inanga, Nelson presents a surprising program of four works for viola and piano, each penned by Russian composers in the early half of the 20th century. Some listeners may be familiar Paul Juon, whose works are currently experiencing revitalization, but names like Varvara Gaigerova and Alexander Winkler are likely unknown. Folk idioms, rhythmic components, and sonorities that typically characterize "Russian" music are present throughout this disc, but the influence of the west is still decisively present. Each of the compositions are idiomatically written for the viola, focusing on the instrument's strengths of dark, rich, tone, and melancholy sonorities, and while none of the works are overly memorable, they are each enjoyable and certainly worthy of recognition. Nelson and Inanga do tremendous justice to their program with convincing, energized, committed playing. Nelson's sound is sensuously deep and powerful; she darts around her instrument's fingerboard with ease and accuracy. Balance between viola and piano allows Nelson's sound to be heard clearly without making the piano seem timid. This disc is a must-have for viola fans, and a great choice for anyone interested in well-executed chamber music. (Mike D. Brownell, Rovi All Music Guide)

Varvara Andrianovna Gaigerova (1903 - 1944)

Suite for viola and piano, Op. 8
1. I. Allegro agitato
2. II. Andantino
3. III. Scherzo: Presto
4. IV. Moderato
Alexander Adolfovich Winkler (1865 - 1935)
Deux Morceaux (2 Pieces), Op. 31
5. No. 1. Elegicka meditacia
6. No. 2. Vl' cik
Paul Juon (1872 - 1940)
Viola Sonata No. 1 in D major, Op. 15
7. I. Moderato
8. II. Adagio assai e molto cantabile
9. III. Allegro moderato
Alexander Adolfovich Winkler (1865 - 1935)
Viola Sonata, Op. 10
10. I. Moderato
11. II. Allegro agitato
12. II. L'istesso tempo ma poco rubato
III Variations sur un air Breton
13. Theme: Andante
14. Variation 1: L'istesso tempo poco rubato
15. Variation 2: Allegretto
16. Variation 3: Allegreo patetico
17. Variation 4: Andante molto espressivo
18. Variation 5: Allegro con fuoco
19. Variation 6: Andante sostenuto
20. Variation 7: Fuga: Allegro moderato
21. Coda: Poco piu animato - Maestoso pesante

Eliesha Nelson, viola
Glen Inanga, piano

2011 Sono Luminus LLC
1 CD DDD
DSL- 92136

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Jitka Čechová SMETANA Piano Works

2012-01-07T09:55:00.001-06:00

The fifth CD of the complete piano works of Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) takes us back to the world of the composer’s student years. (Smetana wrote all the featured - and surprisingly mature - pieces before he had reached the age of twenty.) He introduces himself as a passionate dancer; the polkas, so typical of Smetana, as well as gallopades, waltzes and quadrilles, bear witness to the hectic social and musical life he led during his studies in Prague and Plzeň, where he was a sought-after pianist and was able to intensively develop his talent. The first preserved composition is the Louisen Polka, followed by the Georginen Polka and Aus dem Studentenleben (From Student Life). The three Impromptus (1841-42) and Bagatelles et Impromptus (1844) are the first attempts to create compositions of a more serious nature and reflect Smetana’s inspiration by his musical idols (Chopin, Liszt, Schumann). Even though young and a self-taught pianist, these early works reveal Smetana as a singular and inspired composer.

Bagatelles and Impromptus (Bagatelles et Impromptus)
1. Innocence (L´innocence) [2:00]
2. Dejection (L´abattement) [0:57]
3. Idyll (Idylle) [1:06]
4. Longing (Le desir) [2:25]
5. Joy (La joie) [0:44]
6. Fairy Tale (Le conte) [2:36]
7. Love (L´amour) [2:25]
8. Quarrel (La discorde) [1:35]
9. Gallopp in D major for Piano [0:53]
10. Galopp di bravoura for Piano [2:35]
11. Louisen Polka [4:06]
12. Georginen Polka in D major (Dahlia-Polka) [4:32]
13. Memory of Plzen (Erinnerung an Pilsen) [3:06]
14. From a Student´s Life (Aus dem Studentenleben) [2:26]
15. Impromptu in E flat minor [6:55]
16. Impromptu in B minor [4:58]
17. Impromptu in A flat major [3:35]
18. Mazurka Capriccio in C sharp minor for Piano [3:24]
19. Duo without Words (Duo sans mots) [5:32]
20. Waltzes (Walzer) [7:58]
21. Quadrille in F major [7:24]
22. Quadrille in B flat major [6:21]

2011 Supraphon a. s.
1 CD DDD
SU 3845-2

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Jitka Čechová SMETANA Piano Works

2012-01-05T19:40:00.001-06:00

The dramaturgy of the fourth CD comprising Bedřich Smetana’s piano works also reflects the pedagogic activity that fully occupied him in the late 1840s and early 1850s. It gave rise to a host of charming compositions and cycles, rather small in proportion yet rich as regards the scale of moods, impressions, compositional techniques and expressive possibilities the composer gave rein to on these modest areas. A significant group of compositions is formed by the generally popular Album Leaves, which at the time Smetana succeeded in publishing under different titles (Stammbuchblätter, Charakterstücke or Skizzen, dedicated to Clara Schumann). The other group is formed by Polkas which, after the fashion of Chopin’s mazurkas, begin stylising and transforming into independent concertante formations of idealised dance (Trois polkas de salon, Trois polkas poétiques).

Trois Polkas de salon, op.7
1.Polka in F sharp major [5:19]
2. Polka in F minor [4:29]
3. Polka in E major [1:47]
Stammbuchblätter / Album Leaves, Op. 2
4. Prelude. Allegro [0:59]
5. Chanson. Moderato [1:37]
6. Vivace [1:14]
7. Allegro comodo, sempre marcato [2:31]
8. Moderato con anima [1:42]
9. Andante ma non troppo [2:38]
Charakterstücke / Characteristic Pieces, Op. 3
10. An Robert Shumann / To Robert Schumann [3:24]
11. Wanderlied / Wayfarer´s Song [2:24]
12. "Es siedet und brauset un sicht" / "It Boils and It Roars" [1:41]
Skizzen / Sketches , Op. 4
13. Prelude [1:36]
14. Idylle [1:44]
15. Erinnerung / Memory [2:35]
16. Beharrliches Streben / Unrelenting Endeavor [2:13]
Skizzen / Sketches, Op. 5
17. Scherzo - Polka [2:51]
18. Schwermut / Melancholy [2:08]
19. Freundliche Landschaft / Friendly Landscape [1:56]
20. Rhapsody [3:33]
Trois Polkas poetiques, op. 80
21. Polka in E flat major [2:34]
22. Polka in G minor [4:42]
23. Polka in A flat major [2:51]
Melodien Schatz / Treasury of Melodies
24. Preludium. Lento [2:12]
25. Capriccio. Vivace [3:01]
26. Finale. Allegro vivace [2:13]

2009 SupraphonMusic a. s.
1 CD DDD
SU 3844-2

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Jitka Čechová SMETANA Piano Works

2012-01-03T20:05:00.001-06:00

Jitka Cechova is an energetic young pianist and member of the highly successful Smetana Trio. On her third CD of Smetana's piano works she proves how intimately familiar she is with the composer's style. The album includes Smetana's greatest piano cycle, the Czech Dances, written in the years 1877-79. The first part of the cycle consists of four polkas, while the second part contains Smetana's concert interpretations of specific Czech folk dances (including the Furiant, Skocna, Rejdovak a rejdovacka, Sousedska, Hulan and Medved). The album is rounded out with Smetana's late piano works. The Romance in G minor (1881) was the last piece he composed for piano, though at the very end of his life he revised his famous Bettina Polka (1883). Smetana's greatest piano cycle Czech Dances in an outstanding performance by Jitka Cechova.

Czech Dances 1st Series
1. Set I - Polka in F sharp minor [2:53]
2. Set I - Polka in A minor [2:36]
3.Set I - Polka in F major [3:29]
4. Set I - Polka in B flat major [3:14]
Czech Dances - 2nd Series
5. Set II - Furiant [5:37]
6. Set II - Little Hen [3:14]
7. Set II - Oats [5:31]
8. Set II - The Bear [3:39]
9. Set II - The Little Onion [5:02]
10. Set II - Stamp Dance [4:00]
11. Set II - The Lancer [4:49]
12. Set II - Obkrocak [3:14]
13. Set II - Sousedska [4:49]
14. Set II - Skocna [3:37]
15. Bettina Polka [1:47]
16. The Peasant Woman - Polka [3:47]
17. Andante in F minor for Piano [0:55]
18. Romance in G minor [1:56]

2007 Supraphon Music a. s.
1 CD DDD
SU 3843-2

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Jitka Čechová SMETANA Piano Works

2012-01-02T20:08:00.000-06:00

Jitka Cechova reveals Bedrich Smetana's piano works to 21st century listeners. - Supraphon continues to issue the piano works of Czech master Bedrich Smetana (1824.1884) with this second compact disc. - Outstanding Czech pianist Jitka Cechova presents the rich palette of Smetana's piano works in this 7 CD series which will be produced through 2008. - Jitka Cechova, an artist from the young generation of Czech musicians, has devoted herself to the works of Smetana for a long time. Her recordings represent the new generation's approach to one of the foundational personalities of Czech national music. - The first volume issued met with extraordinary success both at home and abroad. Jitka Cechova's interpretation is valued not only for her extraordinary knowledge but also for her ability to discover further nuances of content in Smetana's music.

.Dreams (Reves.Six morceaux caracteristiques)
1. Vanished Happiness (Le Bonheur eteint) [4:22]
2. Consolation (La consolation) [4:30]
3. In Bohemia (En Boheme) [4:55]
4. In the Saloon (Au salon) [4:00]
5. In front of the Castle (Pres du chateau) [5:33]
6. Harvest Festival (La fete des paysans bohemiens) [5:01]
Album Leaves (Stammbuchblätter)
7. in B flat major [1:29]
8. in B minor [0:57]
9. Toccatina in B flat major [1:46]
10. in G major [0:52]
11. in G minor [0:50]
12. in E flat minor [3:16]
13. in B flat minor [1:11]
14. Andante in E flat major [2:16]
Polkas
15. Polka in E major [2:50]
16. Polka G minor [5:16]
17. Polka in A major [5:19]
18. Polka in F minor [2:16]
Wedding Scenes´ (Hochzeitsszenen)
19. Wedding Procession (Tempo di marcia) (Der Hochzeitszuk) [3:13]
20. Bridegroom and Bride (Duo. Allegretto ma non troppo) (Das Brautpaar) [2:57]
21. Wedding Festivity - Dance (Allegro vivo) (Das Hochzeitsfest - Der Tanz) [5:27]

2006 Supraphon a. s.
1 CD DDD
SU 3842-2

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Jitka Čechová SMETANA Piano Works

2011-12-31T18:35:00.001-06:00

Born in Mělník near Prague, she received her basic musical training from Prof. Jan Novotný at the Prague Conservatoire and from Prof. Peter Toperczer at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. Her individual musical gifts were then developed to their full during postgraduate studies under Eugen Indjic in Paris and Vitali Berzon in Freiburg. She acquired further experience during her research studies at master classes given by R. Kehrer in Weimar, E. Indjic and L. Berman in Piesťany, and Avo Kuyumjian in Prague.

Jitka Čechová has won prizes in the following international competitions: "Virtuosi per musica di pianoforte" in Ústí nad Labem (1986); the Smetana Competition in Hradec Králové (1986, 1988 and 1990); the Chopin Competition in Mariánské Lázně (1987 and 1989); and the Johann Nepomuk Hummel Competition in Bratislava, Slovakia (1991).

She has made a name for herself as a soloist, both in recitals and with orchestras, on podiums across Europe (in Austria, France, Germany, Scotland, Spain, Bulgaria, England, Slovakia) and also in South Africa. She played two extremely successful concerts with a special programme by Smetana at the International Festival in Edinburgh in 1998. She performed with the Munich Symphony Orchestra, with the South-Western Radio Symphony Orchestra, with Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, with the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK (Prague Spring Festival), Prague Chamber Philharmonia and many others Czech orchestras.

During a concert tour of Germany with the South-Western Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by P. Altrichter she premiered a piano concert that Zdeněk Lukás had composed for her, achieving spectacular success with both audiences and the critics.

Chamber music is an indispensable component of Jitka Čechová's musical identity. She brings a full emotional commitment to bear to her role as pianist in the Smetana Trio, supported by the brilliant technical basis of her solo metier. Within the Smetana Trio partnership (Jana Nováková - violin, Jan Páleníček - cello) she also plays duets with violin or cello and performs solo pieces as part of the Trio's chamber music repertoire.

Jitka Čechová records CDs for the Intercord, Supraphon, BMG, Koch International, Lotos and Cube companies. Her latest recording for the latter company were CDs with music by Liszt, Lukás, Shostakovich, Saint-Saëns, Dvořák, Smetana and Martinů.

Bedrich Smetana (1824 - 1884)

1.Macbeth. Sketch to a scene Macbeth and the Witches by William Shakespeare [9:13]

2.Curious. Transcription of the Song by Franz Schubert [4:16]
3.Ballvision (A Ball Scene in Polka Form) [4:06]
4.Bettina´s Polka in C major (1. version) [3:25]
5.Concerto Etude in C major [5:28]
Memories of Bohemia in Polka Form, Op. 12
6. Polka in A minor [2:39]
7.Polka in E minor [6:02]
Memories of Bohemia in Polka Form, Op. 13
8.Polka in E minor [2:09]
9.Polka in E flat major [5:40]
10.On the Seashore. Concert Etude in G sharp minor, Op. 17 [5:11]
11.Concert Fantasy on Czech folk Songs [8:56]

2005 Supraphon a.s.
1 CD DDD
SU 3841-2

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VIVA! Simone Kermes sings VIVALDI

2011-12-26T07:15:00.002-06:00

In recent years German soprano Simone Kermes has been the sensation of press and public with her Vivaldi recordings. Here is a single CD compilation of highlights from her two solo Vivaldi recordings on Archiv Produktion, Amor Sacro and Amor Profano.

Of Amor Profano, Opera magazine wrote: "Kermes's distinctive voice has an appealing smoothness and roundedness of tone... an intensely dramatic personality at work... super-precise coloratura...Kermes's technique is something to marvel at"; and Gramophone summed up: Amor profano is a role model of how a Baroque opera arias recital disc should be put together - with proper research, affection for the composer, and top-notch artistry".

Equally brilliant at Vivaldi is the Venice Baroque Orchestra directed by Andrea Marcon who also recorded a number of Vivaldi recordings for Archiv. They are a perfect accompaniment for Simone Kermes.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741)

Nulla in Mundo Pax Sincera
1. Larghetto "Nulla in mundo pax sincera" [7:25]
2. Recitativo "Blando colore oculos mundus decepit" [1:15]
3. Allegro (Aria) "Spirat anguis inter flores" [3:10]
4. Allegro "Alleluia" [2:02]
L'Olimpiade, RV725
adapted by Andrea Marcon
Act 2
5. Siam navi all'onde [6:46]
Semiramide (RV 733)
6. Quegl' occhi luminosi (adapted by Andrea Marcon) [5:06]
Tito Manlio
adapted by Andrea Marcon
Act 2
7. Combatta un gentil cor [4:34]
8. La farfalletta (adapted by Andrea Marcon) [6:47]
In furore, R.626
9. 1. In furore iustissimae (Allegro) [5:09]
10. 2. Miserationum Pater (Recitativo) [0:59]
11. 3. Tunc meus fletus (Largo) [7:42]
12. 4. Alleluia (Allegro) [1:33]
Vivaldi: Orlando furioso RV 728
adapted by Andrea Marcon
Act 2
13. Ah fuggi rapido [2:28]
Il Giustino
adapted by Andrea Marcon
Act 3
14. Or che cinto ho il crin d'alloro [3:36]
Griselda - dramma per musica
adapted by Andrea Marcon
15. Agitata da due venti [5:31]
Catone in Utica
adapted by Andrea Marcon
Act 1
16. Se in campo armato [6:30]

Simone Kermes
Venice Baroque Orchestra
Andrea Marcon

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Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 20

2011-12-24T06:30:00.000-06:00

Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima were marked in the Lutheran liturgy – and in the Catholic Church also - as the three Sundays before the rigours of the season of Lent began.

Bach’s cantatas for Quinquagesima Sunday, also known as “Esto mihi”, were contained in Volume 21 of this series. This latest instalment includes all the surviving cantatas for the previous two Sundays.

For Septuagesima Sunday the Pilgrims visited the fifteenth century church of St. Vitus in the Dutch city of Narden. This venue had particular resonances for one of the soloists, Wilke te Brummelstroete. In the booklet she writes that it was in this selfsame church that, as a young singer, she was a member of the chorus of the Dutch Bach Society in their annual performance of St. Matthew Passion - the first time she’d sung in the work - and “a dream was born to sing there one day as a soloist.”

We can hear that dream come to fruition in BWV 144, a cantata from Bach’s first Leipzig cycle. After the vigorous fugal opening chorus, which is clearly and crisply delivered, the alto aria ‘Murre nicht, Liebster Christ’ allows us to enjoy Miss te Brummelstroete’s firm toned voice. This aria is like a stately minuet and she sings it with fine feeling. The other aria in the cantata falls to the soprano. The opening line of ‘Genügsamkeit ist ein Schatz in diesem Leben’ translates as “Contentedness is a jewel in this life” and Bach provides suitably beguiling, easeful music, including a flowing oboe d’amore obbligato. Miah Persson’s performance is a delight.

Miss Persson is even more to the fore in BWV 84 for, apart from the concluding chorale, this is for solo soprano. It begins with an aria in E minor in which the embellishments of the oboe obbligato intertwine delectably with the solo voice, providing a perfect foil to the singer. John Eliot Gardiner describes the piece as “wistful, resigned, elegiac even?” It’s a lovely aria and it’s expressively delivered. By contrast the second aria is joyful and nimble and features a playful double obbligato of oboe and violin. The music – and the performance – bears a smiling countenance. Miss Persson also impresses with her delivery of the two recitatives in this cantata, singing them lightly but with an evident feeling for the meaning of the words. I like also the treatment of the chorale, which is sung quietly and unaccompanied, thereby achieving an appropriately understated intensity.

BWV 92 is longer than the other two cantatas put together. It is based on a twelve-verse seventeenth-century hymn and is cast in no less than nine movements. Unlike the other two cantatas, the text of this piece bears no direct relation to the Gospel for the day, which related the parable of the labourers in the vineyard (Matthew 20. 1-16) Instead the text of this cantata contains what Alfred Dürr calls a “general admonition to acquiesce in whatever God sends in the way of joy or suffering.”

The cantata opens with a substantial chorale fantasia to which a pair of oboi d’amore makes a pungent contribution. There follows what Gardiner refers to as “an audacious experiment” by Bach in the form of a movement for bass in which the soloist sings strophes of the hymn, interrupting himself no less than nine times with glosses on the text in the form of free recitative. The soloist is Jonathan Brown, a member of the Monteverdi Choir, and he and Gardiner weld what might be a ramshackle structure into a convincing whole. Later on, in the seventh movement, Bach repeats the experiment in a different way. This time the chorale, richly harmonised, is sung by the choir and the interpolations are entrusted to all four soloists in turn, starting with the bass and ascending to the soprano.

Before that we hear one of Bach’s jagged, uncomfortable tenor arias, ‘Seht, seht! wie reisst, wie bricht, wie fällt’ (‘See, see, how all things snap, break, fall’). This is done by James Oxley, previously heard in Volume 21. He’s incisive and projects strongly music that Gardiner aptly describes as “impressive, but deliberately unlovely.” By contrast, the final aria in the cantata is a pastoral piece, the mood of which Dürr categorises as “cheerful, peaceful serenity.” It’s a bewitching piece in which the soprano soloist is accompanied by an oboe d’amore and pizzicato strings. Miah Persson’s performance is radiant.

The following week the Pilgrims had crossed the North Sea, returning to England and to Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire. Bach left us three cantatas for Sexagesima Sunday and, in Gardiner’s words, each of them is “characterised by his vivid pictorial imagination, an arresting sense of drama, and by music of freshness and power that lodges in the memory.”

BWV 18 is a Weimar cantata, probably composed in 1713. The original scoring was unusual in that Bach dispensed with violins completely and instead wrote no fewer than four separate viola lines as well as basso continuo. A revision in 1724 saw the addition of a pair of recorders and it’s this later scoring that’s used here. In the opening sinfonia the pleasing contrast between the husky violas and the piping recorders is immediately apparent. The third movement is a most original conception. The tenor and bass soloists each have two passages of recitative, sung alternately, each one of which is followed by a short passage in which the choir sings lines from Luther’s litany known as the German Prefatory. The second recit for tenor, arrestingly delivered by James Gilchrist, is especially dramatic. There’s only one aria, which is brightly sung by Gillian Keith. The accompaniment is interesting as all the violas play in unison with the recorders doubling their line at the octave. Described like that, it doesn’t sound very interesting but in fact the contrast in timbres has a piquant fascination.

The title of BWV 181 must rank as among the strangest in all the cantatas. Dürr translates it as “Frivolous flutter-spirits” but even better, I think, is the rendition by Richard Stokes, which is used in the booklet. He comes up with “Frivolous flibbertigibbets.” The Gospel for the day (Luke 8. 4-15) is the parable of the Sower and the reference in the cantata’s title is to the fickle folk who, like birds, devour the seed that falls on the ground. Dürr states that the scoring originally omitted wind instruments but that flute and oboe parts were added for a revival sometime between 1743 and 1746. Gardiner includes these instruments.

The cantata opens with an admonitory bass aria, commandingly sung by Stephan Loges, which includes a reference to the fallen angel Belial. Almost every volume in this series seems to yield at least one particularly choice phrase from Gardiner’s notes. Writing of this aria, which he describes as “a witty, Hitchcockian evocation”, he says this: “It could almost serve as a soundtrack to a cartoon film; a gaggle of flighty, giggly teenage girls being bounced out of a nightclub by Belial and his henchmen.” The third movement is a tenor aria, of which Gilchrist gives a biting performance. The obbligato part, thought to be for violin, is lost and Dürr suggested that, though it might be possible to compose a replacement, “the result could not be expected to accord even approximately with Bach’s intentions” since the manuscript offers meagre clues. Well, for this performance Robert Levin composed an obbligato and I have to say that whilst I wouldn’t claim a fraction of Dürr’s scholarship, the ensuing result sounds completely convincing to me. The exuberant final chorus is something of a display piece, uniting all the forces and adding the festive touch of a trumpet part. Was this Bach permitting himself one last bit of indulgence before the austerities of Lent?

I wouldn’t dissent from Gardiner’s judgement that BWV 126 is “a stunning, combative work.” The text is drawn from a variety of sources and is a real statement of how embattled are the adherents of Lutheranism in what was a turbulent world. In the very first movement, a chorus, Luther’s words translate as follows:

Uphold us, Lord, in Thy Word
And fend off murderous Papists and Turks
Who wish to topple Jesus Christ,
Thy son, from his throne.

Thus the tone for the whole cantata is set. In this movement Bach is at his most energetic and dynamic with the addition of a trumpet imparting a martial flavour to the music, as do the scintillating driving rhythms. The following tenor aria, ringingly sung by James Gilchrist, isn’t too hectic at the start but before long Bach introduces volleys of semi- and demisemiquavers into the vocal line. Gilchrist is equal to Bach’s demands but I do wonder if the music isn’t just too elaborate for its own good.

The subsequent bass aria tests both the soloist, Stephan Loges, and also his partner, David Watkins, who has a fiendishly angry cello obbligato to play. Dürr rightly observes that “a truly Old Testament zeal against the enemies of the things of God” pervades this obbligato. Both singer and cellist project this powerful aria strongly. At the end of this fire and brimstone cantata comes a two-verse chorale, which is a heartfelt plea for peace and good governance. The Monteverdi Choir sings it with ample expression and the final Amen is glowing. This is quite an extraordinary piece. So far as I am aware there was no political or religious instability in Leipzig or its environs at this time and one wonders what impelled Bach to compose such a piece – or his anonymous librettist to compile such a text.

The standards of performance and presentation are as high in this latest instalment of Gardiner’s cantata cycle as they have been in previous issues. The series continues its impressive progress. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750
For Septuagesima
Nimm, was dein ist, und gehe hin BWV 144
1. Coro Nimm, was dein ist, und gehe hin
2. Aria: Alt Murre nicht, lieber Christ
3. Choral Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
4. Recitativo: Tenor Wo die Genügsamkeit regiert
5. Aria: Sopran Genügsamkeit ist ein Schatz in diesem Leben
6. Choral Was mein Gott will, das g’scheh allzeit
Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke BWV 84
1. Aria: Sopran Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke
2. Recitativo: Sopran Gott ist mir ja nichts schuldig
3. Aria: Sopran Ich esse mit Freuden mein weniges Brot
4. Recitativo: Sopran Im Schweiße meines Angesichts
5. Choral Ich leb indes in dir vergnüget
Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn BWV 92
1. Coro (Choral) Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn
2. Choral e Recitativo: Bass Es kann mir fehlen nimmermehr!
3. Aria: Tenor Seht, seht! wie reißt, wie bricht, wie fällt
4. Choral: Alt Zudem ist Weisheit und Verstand
5. Recitativo: Tenor Wir wollen nun nicht länger zagen
6. Aria: Bass Das Brausen von den rauen Winden
7. Choral e Recitativo: Sopran, Alt, Tenor, Bass Ei nun, mein Gott, so fall ich dir
8. Aria: Sopran Meinem Hirten bleib ich treu
9. Choral Soll ich denn auch des Todes Weg

For Sexagesima
Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt BWV 18
1. Sinfonia
2. Recitativo: Bass Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt
3. Recitativo e Litania: Tenor, Bass Mein Gott, hier wird mein Herze sein
4. Aria: Sopran Mein Seelenschatz ist Gottes Wort
5. Choral Ich bitt, o Herr, aus Herzens Grund
Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister BWV 181
1. Aria: Bass Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister
2. Recitativo: Alt O unglücksel’ger Stand verkehrter Seelen
3. Aria: Tenor Der schädlichen Dornen unendliche Zahl
4. Recitativo: Sopran Von diesen wird die Kraft erstickt
5. Coro Lass, Höchster, uns zu allen Zeiten
Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort BWV 126
1. Coro (Choral) Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort
2. Aria: Tenor Sende deine Macht von oben
3. Recitativo e Choral: Alt, Tenor Der Menschen Gunst und Macht
wird wenig nützen
4. Aria: Bass Stürze zu Boden, schwülstige Stolze!
5. Recitativo: Tenor So wird dein Wort und Wahrheit offenbar
6. Choral Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich

2009 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 20 SDG 153

You can buy it on Amazon
You can download here: CD One / CD Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 19

2011-12-21T04:00:00.001-06:00

John Eliot Gardiner's "Bach Pilgrimage" has had its rough spots and its brighter moments, this two-disc set being among the latter, owing much to its strong vocal soloists and distinctive, distinguished instrumental playing. Typically, the performances were recorded live, this time in two very fine venues--England's Old Royal Naval College Chapel in Greenwich, and Romsey Abbey, Hampshire. These six cantatas are primarily vocal soloist vehicles, but they also feature some of Bach's more colorful uses of instruments, including bassoon (the alto/tenor duet in BWV 155), oboe d'amore (BWV 3), recorders (BWV 81), and oboe da caccia (tenor aria in BWV 13), as well as his formidable flair for the dramatic, theatrical, and picturesque, from storms at sea to rushing, cascading water to rising mists, and of course, the matchless musical evocations of pain, grief, longing, and joy.

For the most part, Gardiner eschews personalizing Bach's creations--except for the very slow bass aria in BWV 13, magnificently (and bravely) sung by Gerald Finley, and the odd, overly emphatic chorale singing--and the results are very satisfying, sensibly-paced, carefully balanced interpretations of these rarely heard (and recorded) Epiphany cantatas. As mentioned, the soloists are uniformly fine, and the orchestra, with little rehearsal time during this project, admirably demonstrates its long-standing expertise in Bach and in baroque style. Gardiner apparently felt sorry for the little-used choir, so he added to the concerts the motet Jesu, meine Freude BWV 227, the most difficult of Bach's works in this genre--and interestingly, this is the one spot where more rehearsal would have been beneficial. The "all-about-me" liner notes from Gardiner's journal offer occasional worthwhile insights into his interpretive choices, and the sound is very good, with only occasional audience noise. (David Vernier)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750

For the Second Sunday after Epiphany
Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? BWV 155
1. Recitativo: Sopran Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange?
2. Aria (Duetto): Alt, Tenor Du musst glauben, du musst hoffen
3. Recitativo: Bass So sei, o Seele, sei zufrieden!
4. Aria: Sopran Wirf, mein Herze, wirf dich noch
5. Choral Ob sich’s anließ, als wollt er nicht
Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid I BWV 3
1. Coro (Choral) Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid
2. Recitativo e Choral Wie schwerlich lässt sich Fleisch und Blut
3. Aria: Bass Empfind ich Höllenangst und Pein
4. Recitativo: Tenor Es mag mir Leib und Geist verschmachten
5. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Alt Wenn Sorgen auf mich dringen
6. Choral Erhalt mein Herz im Glauben rein
Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen BWV 13
1. Aria: Tenor Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen
2. Recitativo: Alt Mein liebster Gott lässt mich annoch
3. Choral: Alt Der Gott, der mir hat versprochen
4. Recitativo: Sopran Mein Kummer nimmet zu
5. Aria: Bass Ächzen und erbärmlich Weinen
6. Choral So sei nun, Seele

For the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig BWV 26
(For the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity)
1. Coro Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig
2. Aria: Tenor So schnell ein rauschend Wasser schießt
3. Recitativo: Alt Die Freude wird zur Traurigkeit
4. Aria: Bass An irdische Schätze das Herze zu hängen
5. Recitativo: Sopran Die höchste Herrlichkeit und Pracht
6. Choral Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig
Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen? BWV 81
1. Aria: Alt Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen?
2. Recitativo: Tenor Herr! warum trittest du so ferne?
3. Aria: Tenor Die schäumenden Wellen von Belials Bächen
4. Arioso: Bass Ihr Kleingläubigen, warum seid ihr so furchtsam?
5. Aria: Bass Schweig, aufgetürmtes Meer!
6. Recitativo: Alt Wohl mir, mein Jesus spricht ein Wort
7. Choral Unter deinen Schirmen
Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit BWV 14
1. Coro Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit
2. Aria: Sopran Unsre Stärke heißt zu schwach
3. Recitativo: Tenor Ja, hätt es Gott nur zugegeben
4. Aria: Bass Gott, bei deinem starken Schützen
5. Choral Gott Lob und Dank
Motet: Jesu, meine Freude BWV 227
Jesu, meine Freude
Es ist nun nichts Verdammliches
Unter deinem Schirmen
Denn das Gesetz des Geistes
Trotz dem alten Drachen
Ihr aber seid nicht fleischlich
Weg mit allen Schätzen!
So aber Christus in euch ist
Gute Nacht, o Wesen
So nun der Geist
Weicht, ihr Trauergeister

2006 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 19 SDG 115

You can buy it on Amazon
You can download here: CD One / CD Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 18

2011-12-19T02:00:00.002-06:00

This last pair of discs actually takes us back to the very beginning of the journey, presenting Christmas and Epiphany music given in the two cities most closely associated with Bach before we move on to Hamburg.

As well as their performances of some Christmas cantatas, Gardiner and his team began the pilgrimage in Weimar with splendid performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, which were captured on a DVD, which has been available for some time. Unsurprisingly the same quartet of fine soloists that featured in those performances were involved in the Christmas Day festivities that open the first disc in this present set.

It would be hard to imagine a more positive start to the proceedings than the jubilant opening chorus of BWV 63, a cantata that was probably first heard in this very city of Weimar. The attack of the Monteverdi Choir is thrilling: “Christians etch this day in metal and marble” is the opening exhortation and these singers truly inspire the listener with their enthusiasm. Here Bach conveys the joy of Christmas superbly and the choir responds wholeheartedly. Bernarda Fink, who sings so beautifully in the contemporaneous account of Christmas Oratorio, produces a warm tone in a deeply expressive rendition of the recitative that follows, making one regret that this disc represents her sole contribution to the Cantata Pilgrimage. A little later she and Christoph Genz combine to excellent effect in the duet aria ‘Ruft und fleht den Himmel an’ and before that Claron McFadden and Dietrich Henschel also afford much pleasure in the duet ‘Gott, du hast es wohlgefüget’. The closing chorus, festive with trumpets, is really exciting: here Bach and the performers pull out all the stops.

The Christmas Day programme also included BWV 191. Though this isn’t a cantata it more than justifies its place. It’s an adaptation of three sections from the Gloria of the B Minor Mass, which was probably arranged by Bach for a special service of thanksgiving in Leipzig on Christmas Day 1745. The first movement, ‘Gloria in excelsis’ is substantially the same as the corresponding section from the Mass. Then comes what is more familiar in the Mass as the duet ‘Domine Deus’, followed by the chorus ‘Cum Sancto Spiritu’ In these two movements Bach adapts the music from the B Minor Mass, not entirely successfully, to fit Latin words. The whole performance is a joy but the final movement, ‘Sicut erat in principio’, is especially remarkable. The music is exuberant enough but Gardiner’s singers and players deliver it with such zest that one is just swept along on the flood tide. The fugal section – ‘et nunc et semper’ – is exhilarating and one can only marvel at the articulation of Bach’s writing by the singers. What a start to the Pilgrimage!

For the Feast of Epiphany the scene shifts to Leipzig. BWV 65 is a very fine cantata and it’s done really well here. The opening chorus is superbly sung and played. Later on the tenor aria, ‘Nimm mich dir zu eigen hin’, is orchestrated with great richness by Bach and James Gilchrist gives a distinguished account of the vocal line. His tone is firm and he gives a pleasing lift to the rhythms. This performance offers a foretaste of the way in which he was to become a cornerstone of the whole project along with Peter Harvey, who excels in the bass aria ‘Gold aus Ophir ist zu schlecht’.

Gilchrist and Harvey are also to the fore in BWV 123. The tenor aria, ‘Auch die harte Kreuzesreise’, anticipating the Crucifixion, strikes a mood of “almost unbearable pathos” in Gardiner’s words. James Gilchrist’s voice is ideal for this music, which he sings with great eloquence especially in the high-lying passages at the top of so many of Bach’s phrases. The bass aria, ‘Lass, o Welt, mich aus Verachtung’, is completely different, benefiting hugely from the simple, withdrawn style that Peter Harvey brings to it.

The next stop on the Pilgrimage was Hamburg where a trio of cantatas for the First Sunday after Epiphany was heard. Alfred Dürr draws attention to the “striking directness” of Bach’s writing in BWV 154. James Gilchrist was on duty again and he’s commanding and impassioned in the opening aria, though here and there I thought I detected that the playing of the EBS string players wasn’t quite unanimous. The cantata is slightly unusual in that, though it’s not in two parts, there’s a chorale in the middle, forming the third movement; this is in addition to the usual concluding chorale. Michael Chance, who made surprisingly few appearances during the project, is on hand for the alto aria, ‘Jesu, lass dich finden’, which he sings well. He then joins with Gilchrist in the penultimate movement, the optimistic duet aria, ‘Wohl mir, Jesus ist gefunden.’

There are two particularly noteworthy features in BWV 124. One is the extraordinarily ornate oboe d’amore part that courses through the opening chorus. The other is the tenor aria, ‘Und wenn der harte Todesschlag’. Here, as Sir John puts it, Bach “opens his locker to unleash a torrent of dramatic effects to portray the ‘fear and terror’ that accompanies ‘the cruel stroke of death’.” The result is a theatrical, wide ranging aria of which James Gilchrist is fully the master. He receives magnificent support from the oboe d’amore player (Marcel Ponseele?).

The final offering in the programme is BWV 32, which is another of Bach’s dialogues between the Soul (soprano) and Jesus (bass). It begins with a beseeching soprano aria, enriched by a deeply felt oboe obbligato. Claron McFadden sings it most impressively. In the bass aria, ‘Hier, in meines Vaters Stätte’, Peter Harvey is completely convincing as Vox Christi while in the dialogue recitative that follows both singers offer some really characterful singing – sample Miss McFadden’s delivery of the passage beginning ‘Wie lieblich ist doch deine Wohnung’. Before the choir sings the chorale the dialogue culminates in a duet in which the Soul and Jesus are joyfully reunited. Here, as Gardiner says, Bach “seems to throw caution to the winds”. The music is life-enhancing and both singers communicate it vividly. Sir John tells us that this number had to be repeated as an encore and I’m not surprised. It’s good that there’s a concluding chorale to end what is the final disc in this series to be released, as it enables The Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists to have the last word at the end of yet another excellent set of cantata performances.

It’s with very mixed feelings that I contemplate the end of this series of Bach cantata discs. I’m sorry that the conclusion has been reached and I shall miss the arrival of another pair of discs in their distinctive and stylish packaging. But, putting that aside, the response must be one of celebration and admiration. There are several other good Bach cantata cycles available, not least those by Koopman and Suzuki and it’s clear from what I’ve read of those two cycles – and the limited sampling I’ve done of Suzuki’s - that both are considerable achievements in their own right. But this Gardiner series is unique, being the product of a year-long journey around Europe and featuring live performances, albeit with some editing. I’m lost in admiration for the commitment and sheer physical stamina of the musicians, to say nothing of the prodigious musicianship that produced, often under demanding conditions and tight time constraints, such consistently expert and convincing performances. And it’s important to remember that, even for seasoned performers such as these, much of the music will have been completely new to them. Each one of these releases has included in the booklet a short essay by one of the performers describing their reactions to the Pilgrimage and it’s abundantly clear that the venture made a profound impression on them and enriched them, not just musically but spiritually as well.

While on the subject of the booklets it’s right to mention that the documentation has been exceptional, especially the notes. Actually, the word “notes” is almost demeaning. The essays by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, taken from the contemporaneous journal that he compiled during the pilgrimage, have been consistently illuminating and stimulating. More than that, time and again he’s proved himself adept at finding just the right phrase to describe the music. I’d say he’s done for the Bach cantatas, albeit at a shorter length, what Graham Johnson did for Schubert lieder with his notes accompanying the Hyperion Schubert song CDs. I hope Sir John’s journal will be published in book form one day.

Sir John has been well served by his soloists throughout the enterprise. In what is a very much a personal and subjective choice, my favourite soprano soloists have been Katharine Fuge, Magdalena Kožená and Joanne Lunn. The alto soloists have been a little more variable but the highly contrasted voices of Nathalie Stutzmann and Robin Tyson have offered great pleasure. Several very fine tenor soloists have graced the proceedings, including Paul Agnew and Mark Padmore, though James Gilchrist has made the strongest impression of all. Among the basses Peter Harvey has been the stand-out performer, though I was glad to encounter Gotthold Schwarz, a singer I’d not heard before.

The soloists tended to come and go throughout the Pilgrimage but The Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists have been ever-present, albeit there have been some changes to personnel in their ranks from time to time. To them fell the task of mastering fresh material – much of it previously unknown to them – nearly every week for a full year. Given the technical difficulty of much of the music it is a colossal achievement, both individual and collective, that the standard of performance has remained so consistently high, especially when one factors in the issues of travelling and the problems inherent in rehearsing and performing in so many different venues, many of which were scarcely designed for concert-giving, even by relatively small forces.

Despite the avalanche of music and the criss-cross travelling throughout Europe – and to New York at the very end – there’s never been any feeling of undue haste or superficiality about these performances. You never get the feeling “Today’s Sunday, it must be Belgium – and such-and-such a cantata”. As I said, each of the volumes has included a short essay by one of the performers, all of which have been interesting and enlightening. A sense of camaraderie has come out time and again and, even more so, a sense of their humility before Bach’s genius. It was particularly instructive, however, to read the comments by Katharine Fuge (Vol. 9) in which she related that each week the performers received not only their music for the forthcoming week’s concerts but also photocopies of the scriptural readings prescribed for that Sunday’s liturgy and “notes giving us the context of Bach’s life at the time each cantata was written. Perhaps we would learn that a particularly fine trumpeter had been in town or, more poignantly, that one of his children had recently died.” That attention to detail and the determination that these were to be much more than a series of concerts goes a long way to explaining why this series of recorded performances seems so often to penetrate to the heart of what this wonderful music is about.

This isn’t quite a complete cantata cycle. Some cantatas were issued, either in live or studio performances by DG Archiv and those have been omitted from the SDG series, presumably for contractual reasons. I append a list of the cantatas concerned. There aren’t that many and I believe that the recordings can still be bought as DG Archiv issues. However, I hope that in due course it will be possible for SDG to release them under their own imprint. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

DISC 1

Christen, atzet diesen Tag, BWV 63
Recitative: O selger Tag! O ungemeines Heute! (Alto)
Aria: Gott, du hast es wohl gefuget (Soprano, Bass)
Recitative: So kehret sich nun heut das bange Leid (Tenor)
Aria: Ruft und fleht den Himmel an (Alto, Tenor)
Recitative: Verdoppelt euch demnach (Bass)
Chorale: Hochster, schau in Gnaden an (Chorus)
Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191
Gloria in excelsis Deo (Chorus)
Duet: Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui sancto (Soprano, Tenor)
Sicut erat in principio (Chorus)
Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65
Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen (Chorus)
Chorale: Die Kon'ge aus Saba kamen dar (Chorus)
Recitative: Was dort Jesaias vorhergesehn (Bass)
Aria: Gold aus Ophir ist zu schlecht (Bass)
Recitative: Verschmahe nicht, du meiner Seele Licht (Tenor)
Aria: Nimm mich dir zu eigen hin (Tenor)
Chorale: Ei nun, mein Gott, so fall ich dir (Chorus)
Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen, BWV 123
Recitative: Die Himmelssussigkeit, der Auserwahlten Lust (Alto)
Aria: Auch die harte Kreuzesreise (Tenor)
Recitative: Kein Hollenfeind kann mich verschlingen (Bass)
Aria: Lass, o Welt, mich aus Verachtung (Bass)
Chorale: Drum fahrt nur immer hin, ihr Eitelkeiten (Chorus)

DISC 2
Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren, BWV 154
Aria: Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren (Tenor)
Recitative: Wo treff ich meinen Jesum an (Tenor)
Chorale: Jesu, mein Hort und Erretter
Aria: Jesu, lass dich finden (Alto)
Arioso: Wisset ihr nicht, dass ich sein muss (Bass)
Recitative: Dies ist die Stimme meines Freundes (Tenor)
Aria: Wohl mir, Jesus ist gefunden (Alto, Tenor)
Chorale: Meinen Jesum lass ich nicht
Meinen Jesum lass ich nicht, BWV 124
Meinen Jesum lass ich nicht (Chorus)
Recitative: Solange sich ein Tropfen Blut (Tenor)
Aria: Und wenn der harte Todesschlag (Tenor)
Recitative: Doch ach! Welch schweres Ungemach (Bass)
Aria: Entziehe dich eilands, mein Herze, der Welt (Soprano, Alto)
Chorale: Jesum lass ich nicht von mir (Chorus)
Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen, BWV 32
Aria: Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (Soprano)
Recitative: Was ist's, dass du mich gesuchet? (Bass)
Aria: Hier, in meines Vaters Statte (Bass)
Recitative: Ach! heiliger und grosser Gott (Soprano, Bass)
Aria: Nun verschwinden alle Plagen (Soprano, Bass)
Chorale: Mein Gott, offne mir die Pforten (Chorus)

2010 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 18 SDG 174

You can buy it on Amazon
You can downloas here: CD One / CD Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 17

2011-12-17T10:14:00.000-06:00

Though this is Volume 17 in the cycle we are taken right back to the start of the Pilgrimage. After splendid performances of the Christmas Oratorio in the Herderkirche, Weimar immediately before and after Christmas 1999, which have been available on DVD for some time (see review), the Pilgrimage really began in earnest with these concerts in Berlin as the new year, and the new millennium, began.

There are six surviving Bach cantatas for New Year’s Day, including Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben, the fourth cantata of the Christmas Oratorio. Another one, the jubilant Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied! BWV190, was given in the very last concert of the Pilgrimage and was included in Volume 16 (see review). On this CD Gardiner gives us the other four New Year cantatas.

BWV 143 probably dates from 1708 and as such is a Mühlhausen cantata, though there are some doubts as to whether or not the music is actually by Bach. Alfred Dürr’s judgement is that the work is “perhaps a little colourless in invention”. It’s interesting to note that, unlike the other three New Year’s Day cantatas included here, the text bears no real relation to the Epistle or Gospel readings appointed for the day in the Lutheran liturgy. The orchestra includes timpani and three horns. The two key soloists are the tenor and the bass and it’s interesting to see that the singers here, James Gilchrist and Peter Harvey, were also involved in the very last concerts of the Pilgrimage, twelve months later. As we’re discovering with the progressive releases of the CDs, both singers were to be cornerstones of the whole venture and on their respective showings in this concert it’s not hard to see why.

The tenor has two arias in BWV143. Gilchrist does well in the first of them, ‘Tausendfaches Unglück, Schrecken’, but the second aria, ‘Jesu, Retter deiner Herde’, is even better suited to his voice and he spins its long vocal lines seamlessly. The short bass aria, in which the orchestra’s three horns join, is dispatched imperiously by Harvey. The cantata concludes with a vigorous chorus, which is excitingly done by the Monteverdi Choir, though it doesn’t seem to me to represent Bach at his extrovert best.

There’s nothing “colourless” about BWV41, which is a superb cantata. The orchestral scoring is even more resplendent than that for BWV143. In place of the three horns Bach employs three trumpets and he adds a trio of oboes to the mix. It begins with a huge choral fantasia, aptly described by Gardiner as having “epic sweep”. The chorale melody is in the soprano line, while below and around it Bach weaves a virtuoso display of vocal counterpoint. The Monteverdi Choir is quite superb in this movement, with the festive trumpets and drums adding great brilliance. Around the midway point Bach unexpectedly interpolates a short section of slower, more reflective music, which is a masterstroke. This is swiftly left behind in an exciting display of fugal pyrotechnics before Bach returns to his opening material to conclude this astonishing, thrilling movement.

There’s no anti-climax, however, for the stream of invention continues with a delectable pastoral soprano aria, charmingly sung by Ruth Holten and decorated by the oboes. Dürr gives the translation of the first two lines of this aria as

Let us, O highest God, so complete the year
That the end may be like the beginning

Bach’s wonderful music fits this lovely idea like a glove. The tenor aria ’Woferne du den edlen Frieden’, winningly sung by Gilchrist, features a fine obbligato for violoncello piccolo. . The instrumental part is splendidly done but, even so, it’s Gilchrist’s clear, expressive singing that particularly catches the ear. The bass recitative that follows is interesting on account of the brief, vehement interjection by the choir of the phrase ‘Den Satan unter unsre Füsse treten’ (“Let Satan be trodden under our feet”), which Gardiner perceptively suggests was Bach’s way of “voicing the whole congregation’s New Year resolution.” The exultant finale chorale is decorated by fanfares from the trumpets and drums. This fine cantata receives a stirring performance.

BWV 16 was first heard one year later, in 1726. As Gardiner says, it is “concise and pithy” and it’s the most modestly scored of the cantatas we’ve heard thus far. Despite its relative brevity there are some notable movements. One such is the aria ‘Lasst uns Jauchzen, lasst uns freuen’, a forthright piece in which the excellent Peter Harvey and the choir combine to good effect. The tenor aria ‘Geliebter Jesu, du allein’ features an oboe da caccia obbligato and one relishes the contrasting timbres of voice and instrument. The text is a heartfelt expression of trusting faith, beautifully echoed in Bach’s music, and Gilchrist puts the aria across marvellously.

To conclude we are offered BWV171. This seems to begin in media res, as Bach plunges into an energetic fugal chorus without so much as a note of instrumental introduction. Two violins weave a dancing obbligato round the tenor aria ‘Herr, so weit die Wolken gehen’. This piece provides a stern test for James Gilchrist’s breath control but he passes the examination with ease. The soprano aria ‘Jesus soll mein erstes Wort’ is a parody of a movement from Bach’s secular cantata BWV205. Gardiner isn’t quite as convinced as Alfred Dürr that the transfer works, feeling that the revised word underlay doesn’t quite fit the music. What does work, without doubt, is Ruth Holton’s light airy singing. In the closing chorale Bach reprises the fanfares with which he burnished the corresponding movement in BWV41. Gardiner suggests in his notes that this was a reminder to the Leipzig congregation of the music Bach had previously given them. I have to say I do wonder how many of the good burghers of Leipzig would have had such good memories.

In the year 2000 the Sunday after New Year fell on the very next day so there was no rest for the Pilgrims. If their programme for that day looks short this is because only two cantatas for that Sunday have survived so that the audience were also treated to two cantatas from Christmas Oratorio. Gardiner points out the almost seismic shift of mood as compared with New Year’s Day but this is perhaps not surprising since the Gospel for the day relates the Massacre of the Innocents and the Flight into Egypt.

BWV 153 is in many respects a turbulent cantata. The opening chorus is vehement – in Gardiner’s words it seems as if it “should be delivered as a collective shout or clamorous plea, upbraiding God”. Certainly the Monteverdi Choir attacks the music vigorously. Later comes a searing tenor recitativo, after which the second chorale comes as something of a respite. But the respite is short lived for the tenor aria that follows, ‘Stürmt nur, stürmt, ihr Trübsalsweter’ (“Rage then, rage, affliction’s storms”) is a fiery piece that would not have been out of place in one of Bach’s Passions. In the subsequent bass recitative, splendidly articulated by Harvey, Bach and his librettist start to change the mood to one of solace and confidence in Christ, but not before the grim reality of Herod has been confronted. The more tranquil mood continues in the dance-like alto aria ‘Soll ich meinen Lebenslauf’. This is warmly sung by Sally Bruce-Payne, a singer who I don’t think we’ve encountered in previous volumes. The cantata ends with a three-verse chorale, which is delivered in a delightfully sprightly fashion.

BWV 58 is a most economic cantata, requiring only soprano and bass soloists and modest instrumental forces. This was probably a deliberate and pragmatic decision by Bach in order to give a rest to his choristers after the vocal rigours of Christmastide and before the impending celebration of Epiphany. The resulting cantata is one of those in which the bass is cast as vox Christi while the other soloist, on this occasion the soprano, represents the Soul. The cantata has the same title as BWV3, a cantata for the Second Sunday after Epiphany, encountered already in Volume 19 (see review). This is because both include some words from the same sixteenth-century Lutheran hymn by Martin Moller. It seems that BWV58, though it probably originated in 1727, only survives in a revision dating from 1733 or 1734. One of the best sections of the cantata, the aria ‘Ich bin vergnügt in meinem Leiden’ was composed as part of that revision. Ruth Holton sounds touchingly vulnerable in this aria and the plangent violin obbligato complements her singing beautifully. Both she and Peter Harvey sing excellently throughout this cantata.

As will be evident from my comments, the performance standards in this latest volume are fully up to what we’ve come to expect as the standards of the house. So too are the notes by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. It’s highly stimulating to read his Pilgrimage journal on an instalment basis but I hope that sooner or later the entire journal will be published in book form to be enjoyed from start to finish.

I made a particular point of listening to the first of these two discs on New Year’s Day, simply for pleasure. It’s hard to imagine a better way of greeting an incoming year than with Bach’s wonderful, uplifting music, particularly as the perfect antidote to these troubled times in which we live. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750
For New Year’s Day
Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele II BWV 143
1. Coro Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele
2. Choral: Sopran Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ
3. Recitativo: TenorWohl dem, des Hülfe der Gott Jakob ist
4. Aria: Tenor Tausendfaches Unglück, Schrecken
5. Aria: Bass Der Herr ist König ewiglich
6. Aria: Tenor con Choral Jesu, Retter deiner Herde
7. Coro (Choral) Halleluja
Jesu, nun sei gepreiset BWV 41
1. Coro (Choral) Jesu, nun sei gepreiset
2. Aria: Sopran Lass uns, o höchster Gott, das Jahr vollbringen
3. Recitativo: Alt Ach! deine Hand, dein Segen muss allein
4. Aria: Tenor Woferne du den edlen Frieden
5. Recitativo: Bass e Coro Doch weil der Feind bei Tag und Nacht
6. Choral Dein ist allein die Ehre
Herr Gott, dich loben wir BWV 16
1. Coro (Choral) Herr Gott, dich loben wir
2. Recitativo: Bass So stimmen wir
3. Aria: Bass e Coro Lasst uns jauchzen, lasst uns freuen
4. Recitativo: Alt Ach treuer Hort
5. Aria: Tenor Geliebter Jesu, du allein
6. Choral All solch dein Güt wir preisen
Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm BWV 171
1. Coro Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm
2. Aria: Tenor Herr, so weit die Wolken gehen
3. Recitativo: Alt Du süßer Jesus-Name du
4. Aria: Sopran Jesus soll mein erstes Wort
5. Recitativo: Bass Und da du, Herr, gesagt
6. Choral Lass uns das Jahr vollbringen

For the Sunday after New Year
Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind BWV 153
1. Choral Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind
2. Recitativo: Alt Mein liebster Gott, ach lass dich’s doch erbarmen
3. Arioso: Bass Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin mit dir
4. Recitativo: Tenor Du sprichst zwar, lieber Gott, zu meiner Seelen Ruh
5. Choral Und ob gleich alle Teufel
6. Aria: Tenor Stürmt nur, stürmt, ihr Trübsalswetter
7. Recitativo: Bass Getrost! mein Herz
8. Aria: Alt Soll ich meinen Lebenslauf
9. Choral Drum will ich, weil ich lebe noch
Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid II BWV 58
1. Aria: Bass con Choral: Sopran Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid
2. Recitativo: Bass Verfolgt dich gleich die arge Welt
3. Aria: Sopran Ich bin vergnügt in meinem Leiden
4. Recitativo: Sopran Kann es die Welt nicht lassen
5. Aria: Bass con Choral: Sopran Ich hab vor mir ein schwere Reis

2008 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 17 SDG 150

You can buy it on Amazon
You can download here: CD One / CD Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 16

2011-12-14T17:25:00.001-06:00

This disc contains the very final concert, the fifty-ninth, of Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Bach Cantata Pilgrimage. This was the last of three concerts given in New York to conclude the Pilgrimage. We’ve already had one disc devoted to Christmas cantatas, performed on Christmas Day itself, and its companion, recorded at a concert given just two days later. Now here’s the final Christmas instalment.

It must have been quite an emotional occasion for the Pilgrims, knowing that this was the end of their journey – a journey of discovery and celebration. Gardiner makes that clear in his notes, but even if he had not done so anyone who has followed the series to date would have guessed as much from the comments that various performers have made in their own recollections, printed in earlier booklets.

The concert begins not with a cantata but with a motet, Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225.This was a most intelligent piece of programming since the concert was to close with the cantata that bears the same title. The motet begins with infectious joyfulness – Sir John refers to the “joyous, spirited singing” – but the Monteverdi Choir is no less alive to more reflective moments in Bach’s piece. This means that the central section is marvellously poised. In the outer stretches of the work, however, they provide singing of superb clarity, full tone and rhythmic vivaciousness.

BWV 152 contrasts very strongly with the motet. This is a work from Bach’s Weimar period and it is scored for very modest forces indeed. A solo soprano and a bass are accompanied by just six instrumentalists – recorder, oboe, viola d’amore, viola da gamba and a continuo, comprising cello and organ. Alfred Dürr suggests, in his definitive study of the cantatas, that perhaps, after the other musical demands made on the Weimar musicians during the Christmas period, Bach had very limited forces available to him and made a virtue of necessity in his scoring. The result is a wonderfully intimate creation, which is sung delightfully by Gillian Keith and Peter Harvey.

Harvey, one of the rocks of this whole series, is in fine voice. Gillian Keith also excels, especially in the sublime aria, ‘Stein der über alle Schätze’. Here the recorder and viola d’amore intertwine sinuously in support of her touching singing. This is a wonderfully delicate movement and the fragility of the music contrasts pointedly with the much more emphatic bass recitatives that are placed on either side of it. There’s no concluding chorale. Instead the cantata ends with a dialogue between the Soul (soprano) and Jesus (bass), which is very well done here. This wasn’t a cantata with which I was very familiar so I’m particularly delighted to find it in such an excellent performance.

Next we hear BWV 122, a Leipzig piece. This is based on an old hymn, dating from 1597, which would have been familiar to the Leipzig congregations. Peter Harvey has a challenging aria, which, predictably, he puts across very well. I like Katharine Fuge’s lovely, pure tone in the following recitative and then she and James Gilchrist combine most effectively in a terzetto, in which they’re joined by the altos of the choir, who sing the chorale melody beneath the soloists’ florid lines.

The first two cantatas have been predominantly reflective in tone. Now, however, the decks are cleared for some serious rejoicing, beginning with BWV 28. Against a sprightly accompaniment Joanne Lunn opens the proceedings with what Dürr calls a “joyful, dance-like song of thanksgiving.” This is an engaging, smiling piece of singing; not only is Miss Lunn characterful but she’s also technically assured. There follows a magnificent chorus, which finds the Monteverdi Choir on stunning, incisive form. Gilchrist is at his most expressive in the recitative ‘Gott ist ein Quell’ and then he and Daniel Taylor are terrific in the sprightly duet ‘Gott hat uns im heurigen Jahre gesegnet.’

But you sense that the whole concert has been building up to the performance of BWV 190. This cantata has come down to us with only a fragmentary orchestral score and Gardiner and his colleagues engaged in some well-informed reconstruction. For example, timpani and a trio of trumpets have been added to the opening chorus, to thrilling effect and, as we shall see, there’s an even more inspired piece of re-scoring later on.

The piece opens with a chorus that is nothing less than an outbreak of unbridled rejoicing. On this occasion the music is invested with the sort of vital, virtuoso singing and playing for which Gardiner has become renowned. He and his performers convey a life-enhancing optimism. One senses that everyone was on their toes to provide the Big Finish to the Pilgrimage. The cantus firmus interjections from Luther’s German Te Deum are especially fervent but then so is the whole of this chorus; it’s a really spine tingling performance.

Later comes a duet for tenor and bass soloists, ‘Jesus soll mein alles sein.’ In an inspired piece of scoring, Gardiner allots the obbligato to the viola d’amore. The obbligato part consists largely of “chains of wistful, gestural arabesques bouncing off a silent main beat” (Gardiner). The effect is quite ravishing. One might have feared that the delicate, husky sound of the viola d’amore would be swamped by the singers. However, without holding back, Gilchrist and Harvey sing with such exemplary control and taste that everything fits together beautifully. Gardiner chose to repeat this movement as the second and final encore at the end of the concert and it’s a nice thought that this was the last music to be heard during the Pilgrimage. The thought is all the more poignant since the violist, Katherine McGillvray, died last year aged just thirty-six; the CD is dedicated to her memory.

After this luminous duet comes a tenor recitative. It was the final solo of the concert and, therefore, of the Pilgrimage and it’s fitting that this should have been entrusted to James Gilchrist, since he’s been another mainstay of the whole enterprise. He produces a marvellously weighted, nuanced piece of singing, which typifies the skill and perception of so many of his contributions to the Pilgrimage.

All that remains is the final, affirmative chorale, which, as performed here, seems to be a summation and a salute to the genius of Bach. This performance anticipated by a few hours the New Year for which the cantata was written. As such, it looked back on a year of homage to Bach and celebration of his music in the 250th anniversary year of his death. But the performance also seems to look forward with confidence, perhaps because Gardiner and his team felt inspired and refreshed by their shared and individual experiences during the course of the Pilgrimage. For the Pilgrims this marked journey’s end. For those of us who are reliving their journey through the medium of CD we have many more volumes in prospect. The next instalment is keenly awaited but for now this splendid disc will sustain us. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750
For the Sunday after Christmas
Motet: Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied BWV 225
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn BWV 152
1. Sinfonia
2. Aria: Bass Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn
3. Recitativo: Bass Der Heiland ist gesetzt
4. Aria: Sopran Stein, der über alle Schätze
5. Recitativo: Bass Es ärgre sich die kluge Welt
6. Duetto: Soprano, Bass Wie soll ich dich, Liebster der Seelen, umfassen?
Das neugeborne Kindelein BWV 122
1. Coro (Chorale) Das neugeborne Kindelein
2. Aria: Bass O Menschen, die ihr täglich sündigt
3. Recitativo: Sopran Die Engel, welche sich zuvor
4. Terzetto con Choral Ist Gott versöhnt und unser Freund
5. Recitativo: Bass Dies ist ein Tag
6. Choral Es bringt das rechte Jubeljahr
Gottlob! nun geht das Jahr zu Ende BWV 28
1. Aria: Sopran Gottlob! nun geht das Jahr zu Ende
2. Coro (Chorale) Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren
3. Recitativo ed Arioso: Bass So spricht der Herr
4. Recitativo: Tenor Gott ist ein Quell
5. Aria (Duetto): Alt, Tenor Gott hat uns im heurigen Jahre gesegnet
6. Choral All solch dein Güt wir preisen
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied! BWV 190
(For New Year’s Day)
1. Coro Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied!
2. Choral e Recitativo: Bass, Tenor, Alt Herr Gott, dich loben wir
3. Aria: Alt Lobe, Zion, deinen Gott
4. Recitativo: Bass Es wünsche sich die Welt
5. Aria (Duetto): Tenor, Bass Jesus soll mein alles sein
6. Recitativo: Tenor Nun, Jesus gebe
7. Choral Laß uns das Jahr vollbringen

2007 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
1 CD DDD
Volume 16 SDG 137

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Sol Gabetta IL PROGETTO VIVALDI 2

2011-12-11T10:24:00.001-06:00

Sol Gabetta is the young female superstar of the cello. The Argentine-French cellist, who speaks six languages fluently, has captured the hearts of audiences in many countries with her playing and her charisma. Sol has received prestigious awards: she won three Echo Klassik prizes in Germany, received Argentina’s Gardel Prize as “artist of the year“ in three consecutive years and in 2010 won the prestigious Gramophone Award as “young artist of the year”.

For her fifth recording for Sony Music and the first on the Sony Classical label, Sol Gabetta has teamed up with her own ensemble, the Cappella Gabetta, a small ensemble that plays baroque music on period instruments, which was founded by Sol Gabetta and her brother Andres Gabetta (lead violin). Sol and Andres have chosen this group of musicians so that they can make music among friends and explore works of the Baroque and Early Classical genres.

On the new album, entitled Il Progetto Vivaldi 2, Sol Gabetta and Cappella Gabetta perform beautiful Italian cello concertos. Three deservedly popular concertos composed by Antonio Vivaldi are coupled with a rarely recorded sonata by Vivaldi and a charming cello concerto by Leonardo Leo, a Neapolitan composer. The CD also includes a world premiere recording, a cello concerto by Giovanni Benedetto Platti, an Italian composer who worked in Germany between 1730 and 1763. The cello concerto by Platti was recently discovered near Würzburg in the archive of a castle of Duke of Schönborn. The Vivaldi concertos which Sol Gabetta has chosen for this recording were also discovered in this archive.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741)

Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, RV 423

1. I. Allegro (04:02)
2. II. Largo (03:03)
3. III. Allegro (03:48)
Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, RV 416

4. I. Allegro (04:00)
5. II. Adagio (03:56)
6. III. Allegro (02:52)
Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, RV 420

7. I. Andante (04:14)
8. II. Adagio (03:39)
9. III. Allegro (03:43)
Sonata for Violoncello and Basso continuo, RV 42

10. I. Preludio. Largo (03:56)
11. II. Allemanda. Andante (02:34)
12. III. Sarabanda. Largo (03:54)
13. IV. Giga. Allegro (02:12)

Leonardo Leo (1694 - 1744)
Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in D major

14. I. Andantino grazioso (04:00)
15. II. Con bravura (02:59)
16. III. Larghetto, con poco moto (03:55)
17. IV. Allegro di molto (01:20)
18. V. Fuga (02:30)

Giovanni Benedetto Platti (c.1697 - 1763)
Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in D minor, Op. 657

19. I. Non tanto allegro (03:42)
20. II. Adagio (03:05)
21. III. Alla breve. Fuga (04:02)

Sol Gabetta

Capella Gabetta

Andres Gabetta

2011 Sony Music Entertainment

1 CD DDD

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Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 15

2011-12-06T16:50:00.001-06:00

Two of the cantatas date from 1725 and since BWV 57 is actually prescribed for the second Day of Christmas it’s fascinating to think that the congregation of St. Thomas’s, Leipzig heard the first performances of BWV 57 and BWV 151 on consecutive days!

Sir John admits in his notes, which are superb as usual, that BWV 151 was completely new to him. It’s unusual in that it opens with an aria which accounts for over half of the work, nearly 10:00 in this performance. It’s an enchanting soprano aria with a marvellous flute obbligato. Bach enriches the scoring by having an oboe d’amore doubling the first violin part. Gardiner speculates that the outer sections of the aria may suggest Mary singing a lullaby to her newborn son. Gillian Keith gives a performance of disarmingly loveliness. What Gardiner rightly calls an “inspirational” aria inevitably dominates the whole cantata but I am not complaining.

BWV 57 is a dialogue cantata in which the bass soloist takes the part of God and the soprano is the Soul. Peter Harvey, already established through previous releases as a cornerstone of the Pilgrimage project, compels attention in the opening aria, ‘Selig ist der Mann’. He is partnered by Joanne Lunn who, in the following recitative offers compelling singing. She follows this with the aria, ‘Ich wünschte mir den Tod, den Tod’. Gardiner describes this as “one of those tragic triple-time dances at which Bach excelled.” Miss Lunn gives a deeply felt performance of it, receiving fine support from the English Baroque Soloists. Gardiner is not afraid to set a generous, broad tempo and he and all the performers dig deep under the skin of this wonderful music. Peter Harvey is commanding in the “show-stopping battle aria”, ‘Ja, ja, ich kann die Feinde schlagen’. Joanne Lunn is superb in her concluding aria but what really caught my ear was her contribution to the duet recitative that comes before it. She begins with some meltingly beautiful phrases and invests the whole recitative with life.

BWV 64 opens with a short chorus in which the Monteverdi Choir offers splendidly animated singing. Bach’s inspired inclusion of a trio of sackbuts in the orchestra adds marvellous depth and gravitas to the overall sound. I liked very much the silvery soprano that Gillian Keith produces for her aria, ‘Was die Welt in sich hält’ and in the penultimate movement, an alto aria, the delightful oboe d’amore obbligato contrasts with and complements the timbre of Robin Tyson’s voice.

Finally, BWV 133 begins with an exuberantly festive chorus and in the aria ‘Getrost! es fast ein heil’ger Leib’ Robin Tyson puts across very well an excited joy at the meaning of the Incarnation. Throughout this concert there are disappointingly few opportunities to hear that fine tenor, James Gilchrist – there isn’t a single tenor aria to be found! In the recitative allotted to him in this cantata he makes us realise what we’ve missed. By contrast, the programme is a feast for lovers of the soprano voice and a third excellent singer, Katharine Fuge, appears in this cantata. She sings the aria, ‘Wie lieblich klingt es is den Ohren’ with wide-eyed joy. I loved the way she switches the mood to tender regret in the more reflective central section.

This programme is a delight from start to finish and the music shows Bach’s skill and perspicacity at responding in different ways to differing aspects of the Lutheran interpretation of the Christmas message. As ever in this series the standard of performance is spectacular and Sir John is a superb guide to the music, whether as conductor or annotator. This unfolding series goes from strength to strength and I look forward with the keenest possible anticipation to further releases in 2007. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
For the Third Day of Christmas
Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget BWV 64
1. Coro Sehet, welch eine Liebe
2. Choral Das hat er alles uns getan
3. Recitativo: Alt Geh, Welt! behalte nur das Deine
4. ChoralWas frag ich nach der Welt
5. Aria: SopranWas die Welt
6. Recitativo: Bass Der Himmel bleibet mir gewiss
7. Aria: Alt Von der Welt verlang ich nichts
8. Choral Gute Nacht, o Wesen
Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt BWV 151
1. Aria: Sopran Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt
2. Recitativo: Bass Erfreue dich, mein Herz
3. Aria: Alt In Jesu Demut kann ich Trost
4. Recitativo: Tenor Du teurer Gottessohn
5. Choral Heut schleußt er wieder auf die Tür
Selig ist der Mann BWV 57
(For the Second Day of Christmas)
1. Aria: Bass Selig ist der Mann
2. Recitativo: Sopran Ach! dieser süße Trost
3. Aria: Sopran Ich wünschte mir den Tod
4. Recitativo (Dialogo): Bass, Sopran Ich reiche dir die Hand
5. Aria: Bass Ja, ja, ich kann die Feinde schlagen
6. Recitativo (Dialogo): Bass, Sopran In meiner Schoß liegt Ruh und Leben
7. Aria: Sopran Ich ende behende mein irdisches Leben
8. Choral Richte dich, Liebste, nach meinem Gefallen
Ich freue mich in dir BWV 133
1. Coro (Choral) Ich freue mich in dir
2. Aria: Alt Getrost! es fasst ein heil’ger Leib
3. Recitativo: Tenor Ein Adam mag sich voller Schrecken
4. Aria: Sopran Wie lieblich klingt es in den Ohren
5. Recitativo: Bass Wohlan, des Todes Furcht und Schmerz
6. Choral Wohlan, so will ich mich

2006 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
1 CD DDD
Volume 15 SDG 127

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Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 14

2011-12-04T07:00:00.001-06:00

These days we have to be reminded that Easter, not Christmas, is the primary festival of the church year. (In Bach’s Leipzig, of course, Good Friday was the most important day of the musical year.) Nevertheless, Christmas was a major celebration at that time and place, with services on Christmas and the next two days, followed by observances on New Year’s day, the first Sunday of the New Year, and Epiphany. Consequently, Bach created considerable music for the season. The present disc, Volume 14 in the series, features two Christmas cantatas, BWV 91 (1724) and 110 (1725), and two cantatas for the day after Christmas, BWV 40 (1723) and 121 (1724).
Cantata 91, from the year of chorale cantatas, imbues Luther’s Christmas hymn, Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, with a feeling of anticipation and exhilaration unusual even for Bach. Budding excitement in the opening chorus finally erupts in striking syncopations. The final chorale is enhanced by fanfare-like expressions from the brass. Another chorale cantata is BWV 121, based on Christum wir sollen loben schon. It begins with a more subdued choral movement, but a joyful air is introduced by the subsequent tenor aria and reinforced by a jaunty aria for bass. Cantata 40 does not belong to the chorale-cantata cycle, but three of the seven movements after the opening chorale fantasia are straightforward chorale settings. Most resplendent of these four cantatas is No. 110, which opens with a choral re-make of the third movement of the Fourth Orchestral Suite.
Gardiner’s preface again reminds us that the Cantata Pilgrimage was not undertaken as a recording project; the recordings are fortuitous by-products of the Pilgrimage. The concert captured on this disc, which took place in New York City on Christmas Day, 2000, was the third-to-last in the whole enterprise. One might reasonably have excused any evidence of fatigue at that point, but there is none in evidence; rather, the energy generated by the performances is quite extraordinary. For listeners who wish to sample the series before committing themselves to it, this single disc may provide an auspicious starting point. Most enthusiastically recommended.
Incidentally, in reviewing earlier releases from the Pilgrimage, I noted the sterling attendance record of violist Colin Kitching. A letter from Clifford Bartlett of Early Music Review noted that Kitching is the Monteverdi Choir’s librarian. But, alas! He didn’t make it to the Big Apple, so Sir John will be the only person to have participated in every one of the Pilgrimage recordings. (George Chien)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
For Christmas Day
For the Second Day of Christmas
Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ BWV 91
(For Christmas Day)
1. Coro (Choral) Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ
2. Recitativo e Choral: Sopran Der Glanz der höchsten Herrlichkeit
3. Aria: Tenor Gott, dem der Erden Kreis zu klein
4. Recitativo: Bass O Christenheit!
5. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Alt Die Armut, so Gott auf sich nimmt
6. Choral Das hat er alles uns getan
Christum wir sollen loben schon BWV 121
(For the Second Day of Christmas)
1. Coro (Choral) Christum wir sollen loben schon
2. Aria: Tenor O du von Gott erhöhte Kreatur
3. Recitativo: Alt Der Gnade unermesslich’s Wesen
4. Aria: Bass Johannis freudenvolles Springen
5. Recitativo: Sopran Doch wie erblickt es dich in deiner Krippe?
6. Choral Lob, Ehr und Dank sei dir gesagt
Dazu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes BWV 40
(For the Second Day of Christmas)
1. Coro Dazu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes
2. Recitativo: Tenor Das Wort ward Fleisch und wohnet in der Welt
3. Choral Die Sünd macht Leid
4. Aria: Bass Höllische Schlange
5. Recitativo: Alt Die Schlange, so im Paradies
6. Choral Schüttle deinen Kopf und sprich
7. Aria: Tenor Christenkinder, freuet euch!
8. Choral Jesu, nimm dich deiner Glieder
Unser Mund sei voll Lachens BWV 110
(For Christmas Day)
1. Coro Unser Mund sei voll Lachens
2. Aria: Tenor Ihr Gedanken und ihr Sinnen
3. Recitativo: Bass Dir, Herr, ist niemand gleich
4. Aria: Alt Ach Herr, was ist ein Menschenkind
5. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Tenor Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe
6. Aria: BassWacht auf, ihr Adern und ihr Glieder
7. Choral Halleluja! Halleluja! Gelobt sei Gott

2005 Monteverdi Productions Ltd

1 CD DDD

Volume 14 SDG 113

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Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 13

2011-12-02T17:13:00.000-06:00

Liturgical observance in Leipzig forbade the use of figural music during services after the First Sunday of Advent until Christmas so, since many of his pre-Leipzig cantatas have not survived, we have very little liturgical music by Bach for the Advent season but what we have is of high quality. Sir John made studio recordings of the three cantatas for Advent Sunday as long ago as 1992 (DG Archive 437 372-2, later 463 588-2) but I’d say that collectors who already have that disc should acquire the new version also even if, like me, they don’t discard the studio versions, which still have a great deal to offer.
Luther’s great hymn, ‘Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland’, a German reworking of the medieval Advent hymn ‘Veni redemptor gentium’ is at the heart of all three of these cantatas. However, in BWV 61, a Weimar cantata from 1714, only the opening chorus uses lines from that hymn. In that first movement Bach inventively combines the old hymn chant onto the form of a French Overture with a light, fugal central episode. The performance here is strong and imposing. Tenor Jan Kobow sings well in the aria ‘Komm, Jesu, komm zu deiner Kirche’ but for some reason that I can’t quite pin down I prefer the sound of Anthony Rolfe Johnson in Gardiner’s 1992 recording. On that occasion Gardiner’s tempo was marginally faster too and I think that speed is preferable. That aria is followed by a short bass recitativo, which Alfred Dürr refers to as “the true high point of the work”. The way in which Dietrich Henschel veils his tone imparts a fine sense of anticipation and mystery. In the earlier studio version Olaf Bär goes for the same effect but, well though he does it, I think Henschel is even more successful. The following soprano aria, ‘Öffne dich, mein ganzes Herze’ is sung meltingly by Joanne Lunn.
BWV 62 is a Leipzig cantata, dating from 1724. Unlike BWV 61, Bach takes his entire text from Luther’s hymn. The opening chorus is a muscular composition, in which the Saviour is urgently beseeched to come. There follows a substantial tenor aria, ‘Bewundert, o Menschen, dies grosse Geheimnis’, aptly described by Dürr as “joyfully soaring”. I like Kobow in this movement and his breath control in Bach’s long phrases is admirable. However, Rolfe Johnson also excels in the 1992 recording and conveys, perhaps, in his tone a greater sense of wonder and eagerness. I think he’s helped also by the fact that in 1992 Gardiner paced the music just a fraction more swiftly. The other aria in this cantata is for the bass. It’s described by Gardiner as having a “pompous, combative character” and he speculates that it may have been a dry run for the ‘Grosser Herr’ aria in Part I of Christmas Oratorio. The aria in BWV 62 is not as memorable as that one but Dietrich Henschel projects it strongly.
BWV 36 achieved its final form in Leipzig in 1731 as an Advent cantata. However, as Dürr points out, its first movement and arias went through at least three prior incarnations in secular cantatas from1725 onwards. In 1731 Bach reworked the material into a substantial two-part cantata, divided into two parts. Unusually - perhaps uniquely - among the cantatas it contains no recitatives. Instead the arias are punctuated by chorale movements in various guises.
Gardiner describes the opening chorus as “ a spiritual madrigal - capricious, light textured and deeply satisfying once all its virtuosic technical demands have been met.” Needless to say, the Monteverdi Choir meet all those technical demands - of which there sound to be quite a number - and deliver a deft yet emphatic account of this fine movement. The third movement is a lovely, light tenor aria in which a favourite idea of the soul as the bride and Christ as the bridegroom is addressed. Kobow’s singing is appealing and the oboe d’amore obbligato complements his voice delightfully. However, the real delight of the cantata lies in the soprano aria ‘Auch mit gedämpften, schwachen Stimmen’. Gardiner refers to this as “a berceuse of pure enchantment” and the performance by Joanne Lunn completely justifies that judgement. Her singing is touching and radiant and she’s partnered most delightfully by the muted violin obbligato of Maya Homburger. This delectable performances lasts for 9:32 and it’s not a second too long. I suspect that for many in the audience at Köln this may have been, as it was for me, the highlight of the whole concert.
Leaving behind them the restored Romanesque church in Köln the Pilgrims moved on to the Michaeliskirche in Luneburg, a church that traces its origins back to the late fourteenth century. This was to be their last stop at a church with a direct association with Bach. Here the fifteen-year-old Bach sang as a member of the church’s ‘Mattins Choir’ and the performers used as a changing room the choir room, where, presumably, Bach prepared for services.
BWV 70 was designated for the Twenty-sixth Sunday after Trinity in Leipzig, where it was first heard in 1723. However, it more than qualifies for a place in this programme since it was originally composed in 1716, during Bach’s Weimar years, for the Second Sunday in Advent - in Weimar, unlike in Leipzig, cantatas were allowed in church services throughout Advent. Since the scriptural messages of the two Sundays were not dissimilar the cantata text sufficed for both. However, for Leipzig Bach added recitatives and a chorale. The cantata opens with an exciting, anticipatory chorus and Bach includes a trumpet in the orchestra to impart a sense of occasion. The Monteverdi Choir gives a superb account of it. A forceful bass recitativo emerges without a pause from the chorus. After such an electrifying start the more easeful alto aria, sung with poise by Michael Chance, comes as something of a relief. I enjoyed the soprano aria, ‘Lasst der Spötter Zungen schmähen’, which is a forthright piece, well dispatched by Brigitte Geller. Also worthy of note is the tenor aria, ‘Hebt euer Haupt empor’, a confidence-inspiring piece. Jan Kobow’s singing is perfectly attuned to the mood of this fine, striding aria.
After this aria come two strongly contrasted movements for the bass soloist. Dietrich Henschel is bitingly dramatic in the apocalyptic recitativo, which comes first, but then he relaxes beautifully for what Dürr rightly calls the “otherworldly, transfigured” aria, ‘Seligster Erquickungstag’, which contains a short vigorous central section between two marvellously lyrical sections. The juxtaposition of these two movements is something of a coup by Bach, one which Henschel and Gardiner bring off splendidly.
BWV 132, another Weimar piece, dating from 1715, is, I suppose, the only truly Advent piece here in the sense that it has come down to us in its original form as an Advent cantata. Its most remarkable movement is the first one, an enchanting but hugely demanding soprano aria. Brigitte Geller and the excellent oboist - Michael Niesemann, I presume - negotiate it with freshness and great skill. Kobow and Henschel both sing their solos well and Michael Chance injects drama and tonal variety into his recitativo before giving an elegant and expressive account of the aria ‘Christi Glieder, ach bedenket’. Incidentally no chorale survives for this cantata so Gardiner tacks on the chorale from another cantata, BWV 164.
To conclude, we hear one of Bach’s most popular cantatas, BWV 147.This is another Weimar Advent cantata - for the Fourth Sunday - originally composed in 1716. Bach was unable to use it in Leipzig for the same liturgy so he adapted it in 1723 for the Feast of the Visitation (2 July). In so doing he added three recitatives and, crucially, he dropped the original chorale and replaced it with a new one, which he also inserted part way through what had now become a two-part work So, perhaps the most celebrated part of the cantata was the fruit of its Leipzig revision.
It’s a work Gardiner has recorded before. He set down a studio version for DG in March 1990 (431 809-2, later 463 587-2). That earlier performance has many virtues but there is a snag in that it was recorded - along with BWV 140 - in a church in Shaftesbury, Dorset, and for some reason the microphones were placed at a distance from the performers, giving the recording a rather recessed sound.
In both recordings Gardiner and his choir impart an irrepressible energy to the opening chorus, which Bach decorated with a glorious slivery trumpet part. The new Pilgrimage account is tremendously vital though the earlier performance was taken at a pace that’s the tiniest fraction steadier; that aids articulation without compromising energy.
Jan Kobow sings the following tenor recitative, ‘Gebenedeiter Mund!’ well enough. But turn to Anthony Rolfe Johnson in the earlier recording and you hear something rather special. The thoughtfulness and sweetness of tone that he deploys is quite disarming. Dare one say he brings a touch of fantasy to the movement, which Kobow, for all his virtues, doesn’t attempt. Also, in this movement the distancing of the DG recording is rather beneficial for once. Later on in the cantata comes the aria ‘Hilf, Jesu, hilf, dass ich auch dich bekenne’. Kobow sings it well but Rolfe Johnson makes much more of the words and, in addition, in this music I prefer his more plangent tone.
Michael Chance is common to both recordings and he sings very well on both occasions. In the aria ‘Schäme dich, o Seele, nicht’ the very slightly steadier speed that Gardiner adopts in 2000 is preferable, I think, and Chance benefits also from being more immediately recorded this time round. When it comes to the bass numbers Dietrich Henschel has far more vocal presence and character than Stephen Varcoe displayed in 1992. He has more vocal amplitude as well, especially in the lower register of the voice, and that’s particularly welcome in the big aria ‘Ich will von Jesu Wundern singen’ - where he’s partnered splendidly by trumpeter Gabriele Cassone. Gardiner’s Pilgrimage soprano also has the edge over her earlier rival. The soprano aria, ‘Bereite dir, Jesu, noch itzo die Bahn’, is a beguiling piece, decorated with a lovely violin obbligato. The Pilgrimage team - Brigitte Geller and violinist Maya Homburger - give a winning account of it. Ruth Holton sings well for Gardiner in 1992 but, by comparison with Miss Geller’s fuller tones, her voice sounds rather small and piping and she’s another singer who doesn’t benefit from the recessed DG recording.
The famous chorale illustrates the care with which this 2000 performance has been approached. It would be easy to sing it in the same fashion twice - and I’m sure we’ve all heard instances of that. But Gardiner appreciates that the two stanzas of words have a different import. So, first time round the singing is reasonably forthright, though very cultured. At the end of the cantata, however, the first four lines are sung in a gentle, trusting way. For the fifth and sixth lines the singing becomes much more affirmative before the last two lines are delivered in a similar fashion to the first four. It’s a small point, perhaps, but a telling one. It goes without saying that both times the chorale appears it’s sung with fine expression. I think that this new version of the cantata eclipses Gardiner’s earlier recording but I shan’t be discarding my copy, if only for the singing of Anthony Rolfe Johnson.
So, with Advent worthily celebrated in two German cities, the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic for their own journey’s end in New York. Where we, who are collecting the CDs as they appear, will next encounter them remains to be seen. However, this latest instalment, which as usual contains excellent documentation and benefits from very good engineering, is another fine addition to Gardiner’s excellent cantata cycle on disc. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
For the First Sunday in Advent
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland I BWV 61
1. Coro (Ouverture) Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland
2. Recitativo: Tenor Der Heiland ist gekommen
3. Aria: Tenor Komm, Jesu, komm zu deiner Kirche
4. Recitativo: Bass Siehe, ich stehe vor der Tür und klopfe an
5. Aria: Sopran Öffne dich, mein ganzes Herze
6. Choral Amen, Amen!
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland II BWV 62
1. Coro Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland
2. Aria: Tenor Bewundert, o Menschen, dies große Geheimnis
3. Recitativo: Bass So geht aus Gottes Herrlichkeit und Thron
4. Aria: Bass Streite, siege, starker Held!
5. Recitativo (Duetto): Sopran, Alt Wir ehren diese Herrlichkeit
6. Choral (Duetto) Lob sei Gott, dem Vater, g’ton
Schwingt freudig euch empor BWV 36
Part I
1. Coro Schwingt freudig euch empor
2. Choral: Sopran, Alt Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland
3. Aria: Tenor Die Liebe zieht mit sanften Schritten
4. Choral Zwingt die Saiten in Cythara
Part II
5. Aria: Bass Willkommen, werter Schatz!
6. Choral: Tenor Der du bist dem Vater gleich
7. Aria: Sopran Auch mit gedämpften, schwachen Stimmen
8. Choral Lob sei Gott, dem Vater, g’ton

For the Fourth Sunday in Advent
Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! BWV 70
(For the Twenty-sixth Sunday after Trinity)
Part I
1. Coro Wachet! betet! betet! wachet!
2. Recitativo: Bass Erschrecket, ihr verstockten Sünder!
3. Aria: Alt Wenn kömmt der Tag
4. Recitativo: Tenor Auch bei dem himmlischen Verlangen
5. Aria: Sopran Lasst der Spötter Zungen schmähen
6. Recitativo: Tenor Jedoch bei dem unartigen Geschlechte
7. Choral Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele
Part II
8. Aria: Tenor Hebt euer Haupt empor
9. Recitativo con Choral: Bass Ach, soll nicht dieser große Tag
10. Aria: Bass Seligster Erquickungstag
11. Choral Nicht nach Welt, nach Himmel nicht
Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn! BWV 132
1. Aria: Sopran Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn!
2. Recitativo: Tenor Willst du dich Gottes Kind
3. Aria: Bass Wer bist du?
4. Recitativo: Alt Ich will, mein Gott, dir frei heraus bekennen
5. Aria: Alt Christi Glieder, ach bedenket
6. Choral Ertöt uns durch dein Güte
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben BWV 147
(For the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Part I
1. Coro Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben
2. Recitativo: Tenor Gebenedeiter Mund!
3. Aria: Alt Schäme dich, o Seele, nicht
4. Recitativo: Bass Verstockung kann Gewaltige verblenden
5. Aria: Sopran Bereite dir, Jesu, noch itzo die Bahn
6. Choral Wohl mir, dass ich Jesum habe
Part II
7. Aria: Tenor Hilf, Jesu, hilf, dass ich auch dich bekenne
8. Recitativo: Alt Der höchsten Allmacht Wunderhand
9. Aria: Bass Ich will von Jesu Wundern singen
10. Choral Jesus bleibet meine Freude

2009 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 13 SDG 162

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Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 12

2011-11-28T18:25:00.000-06:00

The penultimate instalment in this series brings a “first”. The cantatas on disc one are not live performances but were set down under studio conditions a couple of days before the Pilgrims performed this programme in the chapel of Eton College. There’s a very good reason for this. Eton lies right under the flight path of Heathrow airport and so, as an insurance policy against aircraft noise, a prudent decision was taken to pre-record the programme, using long takes to simulate concert conditions as much as possible.
One would not wish for any intrusive noises to mar any of the cantata performances, especially James Gilchrist’s excellent and compelling account of the cantata for solo tenor, BWV 55. In the aria that opens the work Bach’s writing, in Alfred Dürr’s words “conjures up an impression of the writhing sinner who in vain revolts against his burden of sin, since he is unable to free himself from it.” Gilchrist rises superbly to the manifold challenges of Bach’s long, intense lines. He’s just as fine in the second aria, a compelling plea for mercy from the sinner, of which he gives a moving account. Praise too for the uplifting flute obbligato playing of Rachel Beckett in this second aria. Gilchrist is also vividly communicative in the two recitatives. In his notes, Sir John Eliot Gardiner is right to draw attention to the lovely harmonies in the concluding chorale, which is expertly sung by The Monteverdi Choir.
There’s more admirable solo singing in BWV 89. The opening aria portrays what Gardiner aptly calls God’s “wistful” anger and Peter Harvey, with fine, firm singing suggests just that. The alto recitative and aria that follow are much more vengeful in tone. Robin Tyson is presented with some challenging, dramatic writing, which he dispatches convincingly. Later comes a soprano aria with oboe obbligato in which the tone seems rather light and gay, which is rather at odds with the words. Gardiner points out that the text describes “a balance sheet of sins committed against the drops of Jesus’ redeeming blood.” The optimistic tone of Bach’s music, captivatingly sung by Joanne Lunn, who is expertly partnered by Michael Niesemann’s felicitous oboe playing, perhaps indicates the composer’s confidence as to which side of the balance sheet will end up in credit.
For all the fine music that has gone before Gardiner is surely right to rate BWV 115 as the choicest of Bach’s three cantatas for this Sunday. It contains not one but two magnificent, eloquent arias. The first, ‘Ach, schläfrige Seele, wie?’ (‘Ah, somnolent soul’) is a slow, siciliano movement in E minor for alto, partnered by an oboe d’amore. Robin Tyson’s expressive singing – and the equally expressive playing by his instrumental partner – compels attention throughout the ten-minute span of the aria. If anything, the soprano aria, ‘Bete aber auch dabei’ (‘Pray then, even as you wake’), is even finer. Here the singer is part of a trio, the other participants being a solo flute and a piccolo cello. Gardiner is lavish in his praise of the present performance, and no wonder. Both of the instrumentalists are superb, while the way in which Joanne Lunn sustains Bach’s long lines is spellbinding. This is a performance that confirms her stature as one of the finest soloists to be heard in this whole series. Alfred Dürr opines that “among Bach’s arias, this movement…exercises an exceptional fascination on the listener.” That’s certainly the case with this rapt account of it.
BWV 60 is for the following Sunday and it’s largely a dialogue between Fear (the alto soloist) and Hope (the tenor). The first movement is an arresting duet for the singers, strongly scored by Bach and punchily delivered by the English Baroque Soloists. The alto, reinforced by a horn player, delivers the chorale melody and when the tenor joins the musical argument the two voices intertwine thrillingly. Later in the cantata the bass soloist takes the part of Vox Christi in a duet with Fear in which his calming arioso passages always start with the words ‘Selig sind die Toten’. Peter Harvey is magnificent here, striking just the right tone of dignified reassurance. The final chorale features some daring, whole tone harmonies. This was the music that exerted such a powerful fascination on Alban Berg when he was writing his Violin Concerto (1935).
The following weekend brought the Pilgrims to Winchester for their final concert in England. In BWV 139 tenor William Kendall produces some forthright singing in the aria, ‘Gott ist mein Freund; was hilft das Toben’, in which he’s accompanied by a busy pair of obbligato violins. In the bass aria that we hear a little further on Peter Harvey is firm of tone in his striking projection of the music but the piece also contains some lighter stretches in which he’s equally successful. He has been my favourite among the bass soloists throughout the entire project and this excellent piece of singing is a very good example of him at his best.
Moving on to BWV 163, the aria with which the cantata opens gives William Kendall a good opportunity to demonstrate the lyrical side of his voice in music that contrasts with the aria allotted to him in the previous cantata. Susan Hamilton, a member of The Monteverdi Choir, and the Welsh alto, Hilary Summers, join in two successive duet movements, an arioso followed by an aria. I don’t believe that either singer has appeared as a soloist before in this series. Miss Summers has quite a rich-toned voice, more contralto than mezzo, I’d say. They’re effective here though I don’t think either makes quite as positive an impression as some of the other sopranos and altos we’ve encountered in earlier volumes.
The opening sinfonia to BWV 52 is an early version of the music that became the first movement of Brandenburg Concerto No 1, complete with a pair of exuberant hunting horns, which make a splendid sound here. The rest of the cantata, apart from the concluding chorale, is for solo soprano. On this occasion the soloist is the excellent Gillian Keith. She sings with burning intensity in her opening recitativo, grabbing the listener’s attention with her very first phrase and never letting go thereafter. The piece contains two arias. The first is a dramatic piece, carrying on from the recitativo, while the second, in which the singer is joined by a trio of oboes, is more relaxed. Miss Keith gives a convincing account of both arias and I particularly enjoyed the second one.
With BWV 140, which is actually for the Twenty-seventh Sunday after Trinity, when Advent is fast approaching, we encounter one of Bach’s most celebrated cantatas. Gardiner has recorded this piece before, a studio recording made for DG Archiv back in 1990. That’s a good reading of the cantata but, on balance, I prefer this newer version. I like the purposeful tempo that Gardiner adopts for the opening chorus, which is just a smidgeon more sprightly than in the 1990 version. The Monteverdi Choir of 2000, whose singing has been excellent throughout both of these discs, excel here, conveying just the mood of eager anticipation that the music and the text require. Gardiner is daring in the way he uses dynamics – he did the same thing in 1990 but the effect is even stronger here. One example that really made me sit up was at the words ‘Mitternacht heisst diese Stunde’, where he takes the volume right down before getting his singers to make a thrilling crescendo during the next line, ‘Sie rufen uns mit hellem Munde’. A little later, when what he terms the “funky” alleluias start, the altos lead off almost cheekily. In the fugal writing that follows the singing has bite and commitment – and great clarity. I can’t recall hearing a more exciting account of this well-known movement. The cantata contains two duets between soprano and bass. In the first of these Susan Hamilton’s singing seems to me to be somewhat plain in expression, suffering somewhat by comparison with Peter Harvey’s much more characterful delivery. She’s better in the second, delicious duet; I think the lively, eager-eyed music suits her light voice better. The pert oboe obbligato is deftly played - by Susanne Regel, I assume. A fervent account of the famous final chorale sets the seal on an excellent performance of this cantata.
This penultimate volume in Gardiner’s cantata cycle offers eight fine examples of Bach’s church music. The quality of the music is consistently high and so too is the standard of the performances, with the expert and committed singing and playing we’ve come to expect – but not take for granted, I hope – as this series has evolved. As usual the recorded sound is very good and Sir John’s notes are as perceptive as ever, inviting and drawing the listener into Bach’s musical world. For all who have been collecting this series this latest addition is another mandatory purchase. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

DISC 1
Ich armer Mensch, ich Sundenknecht, BWV 55
Aria: Ich armer Mensch, ich Sundenknecht (Tenor)
Recitative: Ich habe wider Gott gehandelt (Tenor)
Aria: Erbarme dich! (Tenor)
Recitative: Erbarme dich! (Tenor)
Chorale: Bin ich gleich von dir gewichen (Chorus)
Was soll ich aus dir machen, Ephraim, BWV 89
Aria: Was soll ich aus dir machen, Ephraim? (Bass)
Recitative: Ja, freilich sollte Gott (Alto)
Aria: Ein unbarmherziges Gerichte (Alto)
Recitative: Wohlan! Mein Herze legt (Soprano)
Aria: Gerechter Gott, ach rechnest du? (Soprano)
Chorale: Mir mangelt zwar sehr viel (Chorus)
Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit, BWV 115
Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit (Chorus)
Aria: Ach schlafrige Seele (Alto)
Recitative: Gott, so vor deine Seele wacht (Bass)
Aria: Bete aber auch dabei (Soprano)
Recitative: Er sehnet sich nach unserm Schreien (Tenor)
Chorale: Drum so lasst uns immerdar (Chorus)
O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 60
Aria: O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (Alto, Tenor)
Recitative: O schwerer Gang (Alto, Tenor)
Aria: Mein letztes Lager (Duet: Alto, Tenor)
Recitative: Der Tod Bleibt doch (Alto, Bass)
Chorale: Es ist genung (Chorus)
DISC 2
Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott, BWV 139
Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott (Chorus)
Aria: Gott ist mein Freund (Tenor)
Recitative: Der Heiland sendet ja die Seinen (Alto)
Aria: Das Ungluck schlagt auf allen Seiten (Bass)
Recitative: Ja, trag ich gleich den grossten Feind in mir (Soprano)
Chorale: Dahero Trotz der Hollen Heer! (Chorus)
Nur jedem das Seine, BWV 163
Aria: Nur jedem das Seine! (Tenor)
Recitative: Du bist, mein Gott (Bass)
Aria: Lass mein Herz die Munze sein (Bass)
Recitative: Ich wollte dir (Soprano, Alto)
Aria : Nimm mich mir und gib mich dir! (Soprano, Alto)
Chorale: Fuhr auch mein Herz und Sinn (Chorus)
Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht, BWV 52
Sinfonia
Recitative: Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht! (Soprano)
Aria: Immerhin, immerhin, wenn ich gleich verstossen bin! (Soprano)
Recitative: Gott ist getreu! (Soprano)
Aria: Ich halt es mit dem lieben Gott (Soprano)
Chorale: In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr (Chorus)
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140
Chorale: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Chorus)
Recitative: Er kommt, er kommt (Tenor)
Aria Duet: Wenn kommst du, mein Heil (Soprano, Bass)
Chorale: Zion hort die Wachter singen (Chorus)
Recitative: So geh herein zu mir (Bass)
Aria Duet: Mein Freund ist mein (Soprano, Bass)
Chorale: Gloria sei dir gesungen (Chorus)

2010 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 12 SDG 171

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Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 11

2011-11-27T04:00:00.000-06:00

For the first of these consecutive Sundays after Trinity Sir John Eliot Gardiner led his Cantata Pilgrims to Italy, a country not so far visited on the journey - at least not in terms of issued recordings. For the following Sunday they returned to London and to the Old Royal Naval College Chapel, Greenwich. They’d been there before (Vol. 19) and it appears that this venue was a late substitute when a planned visit to the Baltic States was abandoned.
In the Lutheran liturgy for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity the Gospel is the parable, related in St. Matthew’s Gospel, of the royal wedding feast and the guest who, arriving without a wedding garment, was excluded. So wedding imagery, such as that of Christ as the bridegroom, figures significantly in Bach’s cantata texts for the day. BWV 162 originated in Weimar in 1716 but Gardiner performed it in the revised version that Bach made in 1723. He has a good team of soloists at his disposal and the ever-reliable Peter Harvey is in action right away, giving a confident, sturdy account of the aria with which the cantata opens. A little later comes a soprano aria in which, in Gardiner’s words “the refreshment of cooling wayside water is evoked”. There’s an obbligato for flute and oboe d’amore, reconstructed by Robert Levin, as only the original continuo survives. His work seems entirely successful and idiomatic to me though, unless my ears deceive me, the flute part is played on a recorder. The soloist is Magdalena Kožená and she sings beguilingly. One must remember that these performances were given nearly ten years ago. Clearly Miss Kožená’s voice has deepened since then for I see she’s to perform Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde next year in Birmingham. The other significant solo number in this cantata is the fifth movement, a duet for alto and tenor. This contains a good deal of testing passagework and canons, which Gardiner’s soloists negotiate successfully.
The chorus have nothing to do in that cantata except for the concluding chorale. They’re entirely absent from BWV 49, which is a dialogue between the Soul (soprano) and Christ (bass). When I first listened to it I thought that some of the movements were just a bit too long and when I read the booklet notes I discovered that Sir John expresses a similar view. Excessive length is certainly an issue in the opening sinfonia. At 6:27 this is the longest movement in this performance. It’s a concerto-like movement in which the obbligato organ, played by Howard Moody, takes a leading role. Moody is also to the fore in the second movement, a bass aria. Despite Peter Harvey’s advocacy I think Bach stretches his material a bit too thinly in this movement also. Both singers are involved in the next movement, which has been described aptly as “a frank love-duet”. Harvey and, even more so, Magdalena Kožená enter fully into that spirit. Miss Kožená gives a delicious performance of her aria, ‘Ich bin herrlich, ich bin schön’ and the obbligato is provided by an oboe d’amore and a violoncello piccolo, which conspire to produce some fascinating textures. Alfred Dürr memorably suggests that perhaps “in the complementary figures that the obbligato instruments toss to one another, we see the spinning and turning of the bride adorned by her hoop-skirt, taking pleasure in her own beauty.” The final movement in the cantata unites the two singers; the bass singing an aria against the soprano’s chorale, while the oboe d’amore and the busy organ provide instrumental support. What a skilful combination of textures and musical lines by Bach!
The best-known cantata in the programme is BWV 180, in which, as Dürr says, we’re at the Feast itself. The Monteverdi Choir, too little in evidence so far, excels in the opening chorale fantasia, which is sung over a stately orchestral processional. The following tenor aria, ‘Ermuntre dich’ incorporates a virtuoso flute part, which strongly calls to mind the B minor Orchestral Suite. Rachel Beckett is marvellously nimble and her playing complements excitingly the singing of Christoph Genz. His light, airy voice is ideally suited to the demanding, acrobatic vocal line, which he delivers with admirable clarity. The light, infectious performances of both singer and flautist are a sheer delight. Gardiner suggests that Bach was rather on autopilot when he composed the soprano aria in this cantata. This does seem a slightly harsh judgement - or perhaps I’m just being swayed by the lovely singing of Magdalena Kožená. Gardiner tells us that the Italians attended the Pilgrimage concerts - there was also one in Rome - in huge numbers and these fine cantata performances must have delighted the audiences.
Bach left no less than four cantatas for the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity. The Gospel for the day, from St. John’s Gospel, relates the story of the healing by Christ of the son of a nobleman who showed faith. Inspired by that, Bach’s librettist for BWV 109 produced a text that Dürr describes as a kind of dialogue between Doubt and Belief.
The opening movement is quite remarkable. Gardiner likens it to a concerto grosso in which the soloists and chorus feature “as concertisten and ripienisten”. The expressive, plangent solo phrases intertwine with the chorus parts to powerful effect and, in passing, I wondered how this cantata fits with the one voice to a part theory: I can’t see how this music could be effectively performed without the contrast between soloists and chorus. Incidentally, it’s a tribute to Bach’s invention that he can construct a movement that lasts here for 8:43, effectively one-third of the whole cantata, and using just one line of text. And unlike BWV 49 there’s no suspicion that the movement is over-long. This present performance is superb. So too is the account by Paul Agnew of the tenor aria, ‘Wie zweifelhaltig ist mein Hoffen’. It’s a turbulent piece, which Gardiner suggests could have been an early draft of ‘Ach, mein Sinn’ from the St John Passion. Agnew, no stranger to that Passion aria, is ideal at conveying the aching anxiety in this aria. William Towers, the alto soloist, is not really a match for Agnew when it comes to vocal expressiveness but he still gives a good account of his aria and of the recitative that precedes it. Though the mood of much of the cantata has been anxious the tone changes at the alto solo and becomes more positive and the concluding chorale fantasia takes this further; both the text and the music are much more confident and forthright.
BWV 38 is a chorale cantata, based on a hymn by Luther. Gardiner describes the opening chorus as “a powerful evocation of … Lutheran crying-from-the-depths and the clamour of imploring voices.” The dark power of the Monteverdi Choir’s singing is sonorously reinforced by no less than a quartet of sackbuts, singers and instrumentalists combining to create an extraordinary texture. Once again Paul Agnew has a demanding tenor aria. His music is emotive and ardent and he’s accompanied by a pair of ceaselessly intertwining oboes. Agnew’s singing is compelling but the instrumentalists are no less impressive. The sackbuts return to underpin the final forthright chorale. Here Bach’s music - and scoring -epitomises the forthright, robust side of Lutheranism.
The next cantata that we hear, BWV 98, is a good foil to the powerful BWV 38. It’s much more modest in scale though I’m not sure I entirely agree with Gardiner that it “seems exceptionally genial.” To be sure, the spirit of the opening chorus is fairly light but the tenor recitative that follows is bitingly dramatic, at least in Paul Agnew’s hands. The more relaxed mood returns in the soprano aria, ‘Hört, ihr Augen, auf zu weinen’, which benefits from some lovely singing by Joanne Lunn. The cantata also includes a jaunty bass aria accompanied by perky unison violins and Gotthold Schwarz displays fine vocal agility here.
Finally we hear BWV 188. Like BWV 49 this opens with a substantial sinfonia, which derives from the third movement of the harpsichord concerto in D minor, BWV 1052. Only the last 45 bars of the movement have come down to us in autograph score and the rest of the music - 248 bars - has been reconstructed by Robert Levin. The prominent organ part is played with great dexterity by Silas John Standage, whose playing is most entertaining. The highlight among the vocal movements is the lovely pastoral aria, ‘Ich habe meine Zuversicht’. Unusually for one of Bach’s tenor arias the tessitura is quite low. Paul Agnew is splendid throughout this aria, which is based on a memorable principal melody. As you may have gathered from the foregoing, I think Agnew’s is the outstanding solo contribution to this concert but his three colleagues, none of which has quite as much to do, all acquit themselves very well.
The production values of this set are up to SDG’s usual high standards. The recorded sound is good and clear and Gardiner’s notes are as perceptive and interesting as ever. The performance standards too are consistently high, with both the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir making polished and committed contributions. Those who are collecting this excellent series should add this pair of discs to their shelves as soon as possible. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

DISC 1:
Ach, ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe, BWV 162
Aria: Ach, ich sehe (Bass)
Recitative: O grosses Hochzeitfest (Tenor)
Aria: Jesu, Brunnquell aller Gnaden (Soprano)
Recitative: Mein Jesu (Alto)
Aria Duet: In meinem Gott bin ich erfreut! (Alto, Tenor)
Chorale: Ach, ich habe schon erblicket (Chorus)
Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen, BWV 49
Sinfonia
Aria: Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen (Bass)
Recitative: Mein Mahl ist zubereit (Bass, Soprano)
Aria: Ich bin herrlich, ich bin schon (Soprano)
Recitative: Mein Glaube hat mich selbst so angezogen (Soprano, Bass)
Aria and Chorale: Dich hab ich je und je geliebet (Soprano, Bass)
Schmucke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 180
Chorale: Schmucke dich, o liebe Seele (Chorus)
Aria: Ermuntre dich: dein Heiland klopft (Tenor)
Recitative and Chorale: Wie teuer sind des heilgen Mahles Gaben (Soprano)
Recitative: Mein Herz fuhlt in sich Furcht und Freude (Alto)
Aria: Lebens Sonne, Licht der Sinnen (Soprano)
Recitative: Herr, lass an mir dein treues Lieben (Bass)
Chorale: Jesu, wahres Brot des Lebens (Chorus)

DISC 2
Ich glaube, lieber Herr, hilf meinem Unglauben, BWV 109
Ich glaube, lieber Herr, hilf meinen Unglauben (Chorus)
Recitative: Des Herren Hand ist ja noch nicht verkurzt (Tenor)
Aria: Wie zweifelhaftig ist mein Hoffen (Tenor)
Recitative: O fasse dich, du zweifelhafter Mut (Alto)
Aria: Der Heiland kennet ja die Seinen (Alto)
Chorale: Wer hofft in Gott und dem vertraut (Chorus)
Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, BWV 38
Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir (Chorus)
Recitative: In Jesu Gnade wird allein (Alto)
Aria: Ich hore mitten in den Leiden (Tenor)
Recitative: Ach! Dass mein Glaube noch so schwach (Soprano)
Trio Aria: Wenn meine Trubsal als mit Ketten (Soprano, Alto, Bass)
Chorale: Ob bei uns ist der Sunden viel
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 98
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan (Chorus)
Recitative: Ach Gott! wenn wirst du mich einmal (Tenor)
Aria: Hort, ihr Augen, auf zu weinen! (Soprano)
Recitative: Gott hat ein Herz, das des Erbarmens Uberfluss (Alto)
Aria: Meinen Jesum lass ich nicht (Bass)
Ich habe meine Zuversicht, BWV 188
Sinfonia
Aria: Ich habe meine Zuversicht (Tenor)
Recitative: Gott meint es gut mit jedermann (Bass)
Aria: Unerforschlich ist die Weise (Alto)
Recitative: Die Macht der Welt verlieret sich (Soprano)
Chorale: Auf meinen lieben Gott (Chorus)

2010 Monteverdi Productions Ltd

2 Compact Discs

Volume 11 SDG 168

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Patricia Petibon MELANCOLÍA Spanish Arias and Songs

2011-11-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Spain, and its music and art, have long had a special appeal for Patricia Petibon: “From an early age I was intrigued and fascinated by Spanish culture, by the way the excessive and the subtle are inextricably linked. It glorifies emotions with pride and, at the same time, refinement. It’s a culture that comes from the earth, from the people. Everything about it appealed to me, and in my early recitals I liked to insert some Spanish songs into my American and French programmes. Then, when I went to Madrid to sing in Dialogues des Carmélites, I met the stage director Emilio Sagi, and that led to my opportunity to enter the world of zarzuela. It was Sagi who directed me in Torroba’s Luisa Fernanda in Vienna, where it was wonderful to be singing alongside Plácido Domingo. I found myself surrounded by performers from all kinds of Spanish-speaking backgrounds; they noticed how interested I was in their culture, and that’s how we made a connection, and I learned from real specialists. Spanish artists have a physical sense of the music: for them, it draws its strength from the body, and there I can’t resist making a connection with Baroque music, with dance, of course, and extreme characters – think of Médée or Armide. It also shares the same kind of quality of roughness, of rawness, and voices are used to express emotions, not just to make a lovely sound.”
“I spent a long time thinking about the programme for this disc, creating a mixture of music, and finally I settled on one unifying idea: the feeling of melancholy, which is a reflection of Spain itself. The disc is a journey through different styles, but through folk music as well, which has a strong presence on the disc. The theatrical element is very important, too, and at the centre is the character of Salud in Falla’s La vida breve. She embodies the melancholy of the title, the loss of hope. Melancholy is a balance in life, a sadness that binds us to death. Salud represents the darkest side of melancholy that tends toward tragedy. But this sort of melancholy can also depict the radiance of childhood, of joy and laughter. What I wanted to explore through this disc was the journey between these two poles.”
Following on from a number of attempts to write a popular zarzuela for Madrid, Falla’s early masterpiece, composed in 1905, emerged from the new, deeper understanding of the power and potential of Spanish music that the composer gained under the influence of his teacher, Felipe Pedrell. Unperformed in Spain, the score was among the material Falla took with him when he moved to Paris in 1907, and the first performances were ultimately given in France – in Nice in 1913 and at the Opéra-Comique in Paris a year later. Albéniz had already blazed a trail for Spanish musicians in the French capital, while Debussy and Ravel were, in return, imagining Spain in music for themselves. And in Paris Falla renewed his friendship with fellow Spaniard Joaquín Turina, who was studying with D’Indy in the sober surroundings of the Schola Cantorum. This is the kind of Franco-Spanish cultural exchange that Patricia Petibon instinctively responds to: “It’s no coincidence that as a Frenchwoman I’m drawn to Spain. So many Spanish artists and composers came to Paris, and there was a mutual influence between them and French artists. Falla is the central figure on the disc, not just because his music is rooted in folk culture, but also because of his interest in France. To me, the sound of castanets and las palmas (hand clapping) is simply the sound of Spain, and it was essential to me to have percussion, and classical and Flamenco guitar on the disc, as well as piano and full orchestral accompaniments. But I approach it all with my heart and my French sensibility. I didn’t want to mimic a Spanish identity, but to feel it without disguising what I am.”
While Falla was forging his own personal style from Spanish sources, his older contemporary, Granados, consciously looked back to an earlier Spain in his twelve Tonadillas of 1910–11. The term originally signified a short musical scene; here the tonadillas are self-contained songs, with a focus on the early-19th-century figure of the elaborately dressed maja, as immortalized in the canvases of Goya. Petibon is conscious of the music’s association with the paintings, the “expression of the inner sorrow felt by the majas, characters who are popular yet refined.”
Naturally, zarzuela numbers are on the programme, with “Marinela” from José Serrano Simeón’s Neapolitan set La canción del olvido of 1918, the “Petenera” (a Flamenco song-form) from Torroba’s La marchenera (1928), and the famous “tarántula” song from Giménez’s La tempranica of 1900. “Adiós Granada” from Emigrantes (1905), by Rafael Calleja Gómez and Tomás Barrera Saavedra, is given a Flamenco treatment, while Turina’s impassioned “Cantares”, from his 1917 Poema en forma de canciones, is heard here in the original orchestral version.
Catalan music is represented by Xavier Montsalvatge, who was introduced to the Afro-Hispanic music of Cuba by returning Spanish emigrants to the Caribbean, and used it in his Cinco canciones negras of 1945–6. Cuban-born but European-trained pianist and composer Joaquín Nin y Castellanos embodies many of the characteristics of the collection: he also went to Paris, where he studied and subsequently taught at the Schola Cantorum, explored Baroque keyboard music, and embraced popular Spanish styles, as in the spirited “El vito” from his Veinte cantos populares españoles of 1923. The traditional Brazilian “Ogundé uareré” has unequivocal West African roots in Yoruba culture, and the song is, as Patricia Petibon describes it, “a kind of trance, an invocation to the god of metal”. A glance to the Baroque returns in possibly the most famous Brazilian music of all, the “Aria” from Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, where, in Petibon’s vivid imagery, the vocal line is “a velvet ribbon matching the flow of the eight cellos.” Rounding off the programme is a new work written specially for Patricia Petibon, French composer Nicolas Bacri’s four Melodías de la melancolía, settings of texts by the Paris-based Colombian writer Álvaro Escobar-Molina. In the singer’s words, “It was important to complete a melancholy journey with a contemporary work, an opening to the future, and a blend of our two cultures.”
Patricia Petibon’s love for the singers who have long been associated with Spanish repertoire is only a part of her overall feeling for this music: “I love Bidú Sayão, and I was interested to see that she was popular in Paris in French repertoire in the 1930s. And I have an unconditional love for Victoria de los Ángeles. In terms of sound, I was just as keen to find different vocal colours as instrumental ones. I didn’t want to use an operatic voice all the time – sometimes you must forget your training to be able to return to the roots and use your instinct as an interpreter. It was this unresolved blend of colours, raw and refined, popular and learned, that Falla continually sought in his works. The voice must embrace these contrasts, this diversity of culture and language.” (Kenneth Chalmers)

Enrique Granados (1867 - 1916)
Tonadillas
1. La maja dolorosa
1. 2. Ay majo de mi vida [2:36]
Xavier Montsalvatge (1912 - 2002)
Canciones negras
2. Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito [3:07]
3. Canto negro [1:15]
Joaquín Nin y Castellanos (1879 - 1949)
Veinte cantos populares españolas
II
4. 8. El vito [5:01]
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887 - 1959)
Bachianas brasileiras No.5 for Soprano and Cellos
5. Aria (Cantilena) [5:37]
Joaquín Pérez Turina (1882 - 1949)
Poema en forma de canciones, Op.10
6. 3. Cantares [2:12]
Jerónimo Giménez (1854 - 1923)
La Tempranica
7. Nº 2 Tiempo de zapateado "La tarántula e un bicho" [1:47]
Rafael Calleja Gómez (1870 - 1938), Tomas Barrera Saavedra (1870 - 1938)
Emigrantes
8. 2. Adiós Granada [4:02]
Manuel de Falla (1876 - 1946)
La vida breve
9. Vivan los que rien! [4:54]
Federico Moreno Torroba (1891 - 1982)
La marchenera
10. No. 5 Petenera [2:56]
Enrique Granados (1867 - 1916)
Tonadillas
11. 7. El mirar de la maja [2:51]
José Serrano Simeón (1870 - 1941)
La canción del olvido
12. No.2 Canción de Marinela [2:16]
Traditional, Francisco Ernani Braga (1898 - 1948)
13. Ogundé - uaréré (adapted by Wieland Reissmann) [3:42]
Nicolas Bacri (1961 - )
Melodías de la Melancolía, Op.119b
Melodias de la Melancolia, Op.119b
14. 1. A la mar [4:06]
15. 2. Silencio mi niño [4:11]
16. 3. Hay quien dice [3:19]
17. 4. Sólo [3:35]

Patricia Petibon
Orquesta nacional de España
Josep Pons

2011 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin
1 CD DDD
477 9447 GH

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Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 10

2011-11-24T07:10:00.000-06:00

Volume 10 of the Cantata Pilgrimage series features the programs given in Potsdam and Wittenberg on the 29th and 31st of October, respectively. The first disc is devoted to three cantatas for the 19th Sunday after Trinity with BWV 90 (for Trinity 25) tossed in for good measure, while the second appropriately contains Bach’s two great Reformation Day cantatas (Nos. 79 and 80), separated by the brief, lively, and possibly incomplete No. 192. The three Trinity 19 cantatas are altogether more solemn, or at least begin that way. Coming a third of the year after the last major festival, these cantatas are concerned more with reassurance than exultation, and each concludes with a positive affirmation, and in the case of BWV 5, a triumphant one. Best known of the three, by far, is Cantata 56, for bass. Here divorced from its customarily joined-at-the-hip partner, BWV 82, it confirms its status as one of the elite cantatas. The inclusion of No. 92 is a happy solution to a number of dilemmas. The year of the Pilgrimage did not have enough Sundays after Trinity to accommodate it; it fills out what might otherwise have been a short program, and it is a vigorous and effective foil for its more introspective discmates.
Again, the performances are superb. Personnel for the two concerts are consistent, apart from the addition of flutes, horns, timpani, and a bass sackbut for the second evening. The choir is made up of seven (count them) sopranos, one female and three male altos, four tenors, and three basses, without detectable loss of responsiveness and flexibility, and the solo quartet acquits itself admirably. Harvey’s BWV 56 is outstanding. Lunn and Towers, incidentally, pull double duty, singing in the choir as well as offering their solos.
As expected, Gardiner uses the original scoring––without Wilhelm Friedemann’s high trumpets––in Ein feste Burg (Cantata 80). Obviously it’s an (perhaps the) appropriate choice, but it set me to wondering about what seems to be an obsession among the period-practice set with composers’ first thoughts––their need to find the earliest version of any score, as if the original inspiration is automatically diminished by any subsequent modifications. We know that Bach’s music was nearly always created under the most intense pressure, and that he was constantly tinkering with it, usually out of necessity, but, who knows, perhaps out of conviction. I know that I, operating at a much lower level of inspiration, am continually tweaking whatever I happen to be working on. Recording artists, especially in the classical field, if they are successful enough, revisit music that they have already committed to disc. First thoughts are not invariably best. That’s why there are erasers on pencils and an Undo button on the Word toolbar. We’ll never know, of course, but isn’t it possible that Bach might have mentioned casually to his son that he wished he’d put some trumpets in that music he wrote for Reformation Sunday? Well, no matter. In fact, Gardiner does have a sonic surprise for us in Cantata 80, an unexpectedly prominent bass sackbut. And why not? The production is, as anticipated, exemplary. Most enthusiastically recommended. (George Chien)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
For the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity
Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen BWV 48
1. Coro con Choral Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen
2. Recitativo: Alt O Schmerz, o Elend, so mich trifft
3. Choral Soll’s ja so sein
4. Aria: Alt Ach, lege das Sodom der sündlichen Glieder
5. Recitativo: Tenor Hier aber tut des Heilands Hand
6. Aria: Tenor Vergibt mir Jesus meine Sünden
7. Choral Herr Jesu Christ, einiger Trost
Wo soll ich fliehen hin BWV 5
1. Coro (Choral)Wo soll ich fliehen hin
2. Recitativo: Bass Der Sünden Wust hat mich nicht nur befleckt
3. Aria: Tenor Ergieße dich reichlich, du göttliche Quelle
4. Recitativo: Alt e Choral Mein treuer Heiland tröstet mich
5. Aria: Bass Verstumme, Höllenheer
6. Recitativo: Sopran Ich bin ja nur das kleinste Teil der Welt
7. Choral Führ auch mein Herz und Sinn
Es reißet euch ein schrecklich Ende BWV 90
(For the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity)
1. Aria: Tenor Es reißet euch ein schrecklich Ende
2. Recitativo: Alt Des Höchsten Güte wird von Tag zu Tage neu
3. Aria: Bass So löschet im Eifer der rächende Richter
4. Recitativo: Tenor Doch Gottes Auge sieht auf uns als Auserwählte
5. Choral Leit uns mit deiner rechten Hand
Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen BWV 56
1. Aria: Bass Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen
2. Recitativo: Bass Mein Wandel auf der Welt
3. Aria: Bass Endlich, endlich wird mein Joch
4. Recitativo ed Arioso: Bass Ich stehe fertig und bereit
5. Choral Komm, o Tod, du Schlafes Bruder

CD 2:

For the Feast of the Reformation
Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild BWV 79
1. Coro Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild
2. Aria: Alt Gott ist unser Sonn und Schild!
3. Choral Nun danket alle Gott
4. Recitativo: Bass Gottlob, wir wissen
5. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Bass Gott, ach Gott, verlass die Deinen nimmermehr!
6. Choral Erhalt uns in der Wahrheit
Nun danket alle Gott BWV 192
1. Coro Nun danket alle Gott
2. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Bass Der ewig reiche Gott
3. Coro Lob, Ehr und Preis sei Gott
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott BWV 80
1. Coro (Choral) Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott
2. Aria: Bass con Choral: Sopran Alles, was von Gott geboren
3. Recitativo ed Arioso: Bass Erwäge doch, Kind Gottes
4. Aria: Sopran Komm in mein Herzenshaus
5. Choral Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel wär
6. Recitativo: Tenor So stehe dann bei Christi blutgefärbter Fahne
7. Aria (Duetto): Alt, Tenor Wie selig sind doch die
8. Choral Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn

2005 Monteverdi Productons Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 10 SDG 110

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Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 9

2011-11-22T20:05:00.000-06:00

Being the longest in the church year, the season of Trinity covers a vast range of human emotions and devotional themes. The huge number of Biblical texts that it provided gave Bach a chance to showcase the diversity of his talents, shown in this set of post-Trinity cantatas covering loss, shame, joy, pride, humility and much else in between.
The Lund disc begins with a gloriously upbeat performance of Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens, a cantata all about the joy of worshipping God. The bouncy excitement of the opening chorus, complete with trumpets (but not drums), reflects the congregation’s enthusiasm for worship, while the two main arias concern rushing towards the house of God. The instrumental obbligatos - a wistful, somewhat withdrawn violin to accompany the tenor, a fruity trio of oboes for the alto - add a fantastic level of colour to the vocal line. Frances Bourne’s alto isn’t anything special, but Mark Padmore’s tenor is light and supple in the way he sustains the long lines. The playing of the English Baroque Soloists and the singing of the Monteverdi Choir, needless to say, is flawlessly responsive throughout.
The opening chorus of Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost sounds surprisingly French, almost Handelian, in style, its vigorous contours representing the rigours of chastisement which the sinful believer has brought upon himself. Gardiner points the shape of this chorus so that the rather slight consolation offered in the concluding part of the music stands in marked contrast to the trials of the first, while he spins out a seemingly endless musical line for the following tenor aria, accompanied by a desolate but hypnotic flute obbligato. For this wonderful piece Padmore pales his voice down to a virtual shade to represent the misery of the soul in this vale of sorrow. Throughout this cantata Bach’s writing shows the possibility of consolation in the midst of trouble and the duality of his writing is matched by endlessly subtle playing from the instrumentalists, though Charles Humphries’ alto solo is less compelling than it might be.
BWV 47 has the weakest text (“Mankind is filth, stench, ash and earth!”) but Bach transcends it with some remarkable writing, nowhere more so than in the opening chorus which is brilliantly structured to represent the debasement that comes with pride and the exaltation that follows humility. Katharine Fuge’s clear, unaffected soprano is perfect for her aria concerning the virtues of humility, though she hardens her tone remarkably for the aria’s savage central section concerning God’s hatred for the arrogant. Stephan Loges’ bass sounds authoritative yet approachable and his arias about humility are lent conviction by the golden tone of his voice. The concluding performance of the motet Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf is vigorous and instrumentally conceived, but the performance broadens out for the balm of the closing a cappella chorale setting.
The second disc was recorded in the Thomaskirche itself where Bach laboured for the last 27 years of his life. Even by Bach’s standards, the opening chorus of BWV 96 is extraordinarily beautiful: there is a compulsive lilt to the music which conveys the feeling of a journey, perhaps the Magi following the “Morgenstern” of the text, and the orchestral textures are enriched by a sopranino recorder which manages to be persistent without ever being cheeky. The sopraninist proves herself equally adept at the transverse flute to accompany the tenor aria, before the bass aria, heavily influenced by the grand French style, provides excellent musical illustration of the soul’s steps wandering to the left and the right before Jesus’ guidance sets him (temporarily, in this case) back on the right path. This cantata is a real winner.
The sheer ebullience of the opening Sinfonia of Gott soll allein mein Herze haben really lifts the listener’s spirit. Every instrumental texture shines through in the excellent recording with a touch of prominence given to the organ part, entirely appropriately as this movement probably began life as a (now lost) concerto. However the instrumental playing is the best thing about this cantata: I wasn’t impressed by Natalie Stutzmann’s singing. To my ears she often sounded overly strident and steely rather than warm and inviting. In fact I was convinced that it was being sung by an over-parted counter-tenor until I looked at the CD booklet. This is the disc’s only major disappointment, redeemed somewhat by the chorus’ beautiful singing of the final chorale. I found Stutzmann altogether more convincing in the alto aria of BWV 116 where her hard-edged expression is ideally suited to the expressing the soul’s terror at appearing before the judgement seat. She is accompanied here by a marvellously expressive oboe d’amore, plangent and tortuous, raising this aria to, in fact, a duet. Bach also gives us a remarkable vocal trio, a rarity in his cantatas, whereby the soprano, tenor and bass acknowledge their guilt as one and beg for forgiveness. The upbeat spirit of the opening chorus and final chorale go only a small way towards alleviating the penitential angst that sits at the heart of this work.
Making the most of their location, the final “Deathbed Chorale” (BWV 668) was sung right next to Bach’s own grave, a lovely touch which adds palpable poignancy to the performance. The choir sang a cappella, standing in a horseshoe around the grave which is set in the church’s choir, but the microphone settings from the rest of the concert were not changed so that the sound comes from a distance, sounding recessed and much more reverberant. I found it tremendously effective, and the piece itself is tremendously beautiful, dictated by Bach on his own deathbed, so tradition says, in preparation for his own final journey before the throne of God. It’s a fitting culmination of the disc.
Alto issues aside, then, this is a very satisfying release. The thing that really sets Gardiner’s Bach cycle apart from its rivals is that, to my mind, he gets to the heart of the music’s spirituality much more profoundly than others, and this volume does it every bit as successfully as its companions. (Simon Thompson, MusicWeb International)

DISC 1:
Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens, BWV 148
Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens (Chorus)
Aria: Ich eile, die Lehren des Lebens zu horen (Tenor)
Recitative: So, wie der Hirsch nach frischem Wasser schreit (Alto)
Aria: Mund und Herze steht dir offen (Alto)
Recitative: Bleib auch, mein Gott, in mir (Tenor)
Chorale: Amen zu aller Stund (Chorus)
Ach, lieben Christen, seid getrost, BWV 114
Ach lieben Christen, seid detrost (Chorus)
Aria: Wo wird in diesem Jammertale (Tenor)
Recitativo: O Sunder, trage mit Geduld (Bass)
Chorale: Kein Frucht das Weizenkornlein bringt (Soprano)
Aria: Du machst, o Tod, mir nun nicht ferner bange (Alto)
Recitativo: Indes bedenke deine Seele (Tenor)
Chorale: Wir wachen oder schlafen ein (Chorus)
Wer sich selbst erhohet, der soll erniedriget werden, BWV 47
Wer sich selbst erhohet (Chorus)
Aria: Wer ein wahrer Christ will heissen (Soprano)
Recitative: Der Mensch ist Kot, Stank, Asch und Erde (Bass)
Aria: Jesu, beuge doch mein Herze (Bass)
Chorale: Der zeitlichen Ehrn will ich gern entbehrn (Chorus)
Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf, BWV 226

DISC 2:
Herr Christ, der einige Gottessohn, BWV 96
Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn (Chorus)
Recitative: O Wunderkraft der Liebe (Alto)
Aria: Ach, ziehe die Seele mit Seilen der Liebe (Tenor)
Recitative: Ach, fuhre mich, o Gott, zum rechten Wege (Soprano)
Aria: Bald zur Rechten, bald zur Linken (Bass)
Chorale: Ertot uns durch dein Gute (Chorus)
Gott soll allein mein Herze haben, BWV 169
Sinfonia
Arioso: Gott soll allein mein Herze haben (Alto)
Aria: Gott soll allein mein Herze haben (Alto)
Recitative: Was ist die Liebe Gottes? (Alto)
Aria: Stirb in mir, Welt (Alto)
Recitative: Doch meint es auch dabei (Alto)
Chorale: Du susse Liebe, schenk uns deine Gunst (Chorus)
Du Friedefurst, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 116
Du Friedefurst, Herr Jesu Christ (Chorus)
Aria: Ach, unaussprechlich ist die Not (Alto)
Recitative: Gedenke doch, o Jesu (Tenor)
Trio: Ach, wir bekennen unsre Schuld (Soprano, Tenor, Bass)
Recitative: Ach, lass uns durch die scharfen Ruten (Alto)
Chorale: Erleucht auch unser Sinn und Herz (Chorus)
Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit, BWV 668

2009 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 9 SDG 159

You can buy it on Amazon.com
You can download here: Disc One / Disc Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 8

2011-11-21T07:45:00.000-06:00

The first cantata we hear is BWV 138, another cantata from the first Leipzig cycle and a "highly original experimental work." It opens with a deeply poignant chorus that mixes chorale and recitative. Hard on its heels, separated only by a recitative, comes another chorus that combines chorale and recitative, but this is very different in style from its predecessor. Eventually the mood of the cantata becomes more optimistic and Gardiner and his forces convey this change well.
BWV 51 is a cantata that Gardiner has recorded before, a studio recording from 1983 for Philips. Then his soloists were Emma Kirkby and trumpeter Christian Steele Perkins. His tempi for the outer movements were decidedly on the fast side in 1983 and are pretty similar on this occasion – indeed, his view of the whole cantata seems very consistent. The first movement goes off like a rocket. Malin Hartelius, another singer new to me, is equal to all the demands placed on her by Bach and Gardiner jointly and she’s partnered brilliantly by trumpeter Mike Harrison. In fact, though I’ve always liked the 1983 recording I find I prefer Miss Hartelius’s reading to Emma Kirkby’s as she sounds to me to have a slightly fuller voice. She’s beautifully expressive in the recitative and then gives us some exquisitely poised singing in the aria, ‘Höchster, mache deine Güte’. The concluding Alleluia aria is marvellously lively. Overall, this is a first rate account of a hugely taxing solo cantata.
BWV 99 and 100 share the same title and are based on the same Lutheran hymn but BWV 99 (1724) only sets two verses of the hymn itself whereas every one of the six movements of the later cantata (1734/5) sets a verse. Some may find Gardiner’s tempo for the chorus with which BWV 99 opens too brisk. Personally I think it’s refreshingly bright and well suited to the words. There’s only one solo aria in the piece, a demandingly chromatic tenor aria with a busy flute obbligato. James Gilchrist sings it with his usual intelligence and light, ringing tone. Later we hear a duetto in which a pair of voices and a pair of obbligato instruments interweave contrapuntally. The performers here articulate and inter-relate their individual lines moist skilfully.
BWV 100 requires a larger orchestra. The opening chorus, which is musically similar to its counterpart in BWV 99, is once again taken briskly. There are no recitatives in this cantata but the soloists are all challenged. The demanding alto/tenor duet, which is placed second is well done by Gilchrist and William Towers. The following aria, for soprano, is nicely sung but the ear is drawn irresistibly to the hugely testing, rippling flute obbligato. Peter Harvey projects his bass aria strongly. The penultimate movement is an alto aria and it features a gorgeous oboe d’amore obbligato. William Towers projects the vocal line positively but I’m not quite sure that he achieves the description "lyrical and soothing" that Gardiner applies to the music. However, he still gives a very good account of the piece. The exuberant closing chorale is the same one that we encountered at the end of BWV 75 (Vol. 1) albeit with some slight augmentations to the orchestral scoring.
The cantatas for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity reveal Bach at his expressive best and the performances here are fully worthy of the music. In BWV 161 we hear the ghostly zephyrs of a pair of recorders. The evocative sound world is highly reminiscent of the early cantata Gottes Zeit ist der allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106. Robin Tyson is suitably otherworldly in his singing of the heavenly opening aria, ‘Komm, du süsse Todessstunde’, from which the cantata takes its name. Mark Padmore reveals in a booklet note that he’d never sung this cantata before, which enabled him to impart freshness to the music. How I agree. To him falls the heartfelt aria ‘Mein Verlangen’, which he sings with superb ringing tone and great expressiveness. On the day, his performance must have been given added visual impetus for he was positioned on a ledge at the top of a stone stairway where the pulpit should have been. For me, despite the beauties of the opening aria, Padmore makes ‘Mein Verlangen’ the heart of the cantata on this occasion. Sample the marvellous open-throated ring in his voice every time he sings the words "verlangen" or "bald." There’s some nicely delicate singing by the choir in the penultimate movement and then the recorders weave an enchanting counter-melody round the concluding chorale. This is a masterly cantata which here receives a performance to savour.
BWV 27 is another fine work. The opening chorus is a moving lament, punctuated by brief solo passages. The flowing, irresistibly chirpy alto aria, ‘Willkommen! Will ich sagen’ is a delight, enhanced by a marvellous cornetto part. The concluding chorale, rather unusually, is not by Bach but is his slight adaptation of one by a sixteenth century composer, Johann Rosenmüller. It’s a most happy borrowing.
The opening chorus of BWV 8 features some marvellously original wind sonorities. Both the orchestral players and the chorus are on top form. In his notes Gardiner draws an intriguing parallel with Berlioz’s wind scoring in L’Enfance du Christ. Mark Padmore, the pick of a fine bunch of soloists at this concert, sings the aria ‘Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen’ with exemplary technique. At several points his precise placing of each in a series of high, staccato quaver is most skilful. The bass aria ‘Doch weichet, ihr tollen, Vergeblichen Sorgen!’ is a life-enhancing dance. Here there’s a fine spring in the step of the superb flautist (Rachel Beckett?) and Thomas Guthrie sings it well. We’ve heard little of soprano Katharine Fuge up to now but she’s meltingly lovely at the start of her recitative. A strongly affirmative chorale puts the seal on a splendid performance.
At the beginning of BWV 95 Bach once again demonstrates an original approach to chorales. The short interjections by the solo tenor (Mark Padmore) add another different dimension. Gardiner obtains a sprightly performance and especially relishes the section of the movement, which he describes as having "something of a jam session feel." Mark Padmore delights in the "mesmerising" aria, ‘Ach, Schlage doch bald, sel’ge Stunde’, where we are also treated to some superb wind playing. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750
For the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity
Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz? BWV 138
1. Coro (Choral) e Recitativo: Alto, TenorWarum betrübst du dich, mein Herz?
2. Recitativo: Bass Ich bin veracht’
3. Choral e Recitativo: Soprano, Alto Er kann und will dich lassen nicht
4. Recitativo: Tenor Ach, süßer Trost!
5. Aria: Bass Auf Gott steht meine Zuversicht
6. Recitativo: Alto Ei nun!
7. Choral Weil du mein Gott und Vater bist
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan II BWV 99
1. Coro (Choral)Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
2. Recitativo: Bass Sein Wort der Wahrheit stehet fest
3. Aria: Tenor Erschüttre dich nur nicht, verzagte Seele
4. Recitativo: Alto Nun, der von Ewigkeit geschlossne Bund
5. Aria (Duetto): Soprano, AltoWenn des Kreuzes Bitterkeiten
6. ChoralWas Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen! BWV 51
1. Aria: Soprano Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!
2. Recitativo: SopranoWir beten zu dem Tempel an
3. Aria: Soprano Höchster, mache deine Güte
4. Choral: Soprano Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren
5. Aria: Soprano Alleluja!
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan III BWV 100
1. CoroWas Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
2. Duetto: Alto, TenorWas Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
3. Aria: SopranoWas Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
4. Aria: BassWas Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
5. Aria: AltoWas Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
6. ChoralWas Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan

CD 2:

For the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity
Komm, du süße Todesstunde BWV 161
1. Aria: Alto con Choral Komm, du süße Todesstunde
2. Recitativo: TenorWelt, deine Lust ist Last
3. Aria: Tenor Mein Verlangen
4. Recitativo: Alto Der Schluss ist schon gemacht
5. CoroWenn es meines Gottes Wille
6. Choral Der Leib zwar in der Erden
Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende? BWV 27
1. Coro e Recitativo: Soprano, Alto, TenorWer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende?
2. Recitativo: Tenor Mein Leben hat kein ander Ziel
3. Aria: Alto Willkommen! will ich sagen
4. Recitativo: Soprano Ach, wer doch schon im Himmel wär!
5. Aria: Bass Gute Nacht, du Weltgetümmel!
6. ChoralWelt, ade! Ich bin dein müde
Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? BWV 8
1. Coro Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?
2. Aria: Tenor Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen
3. Recitativo: Alto Zwar fühlt mein schwaches Herz
4. Aria: Bass Doch weichet, ihr tollen, vergeblichen Sorgen!
5. Recitativo: Soprano Behalte nur, o Welt, das Meine!
6. Choral Herrscher über Tod und Leben
Christus, der ist mein Leben BWV 95
1. Coro (Choral) e Recitativo: Tenor Christus, der ist mein Leben
2. Recitativo: Soprano Nun, falsche Welt!
3. Choral: Soprano Valet will ich dir geben
4. Recitativo: Tenor Ach, könnte mir doch bald so wohl geschehn
5. Aria: Tenor Ach, schlage doch bald, sel’ge Stunde
6. Recitativo: Bass Denn ich weiß dies
7. ChoralWeil du vom Tod erstanden bist

2005 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 8 SDG 104

You can buy it on Amazon.com
You can download here: Disc One / Disc Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 7

2011-11-20T08:05:00.001-06:00

The first disc includes three cantatas for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, recorded in the church of the monastery founded by the Benedictine Order in the ninth century. This abbey church, completed in the fifteenth century, is in south-east France, in the Département de l’Ain. The Gospel for the Sunday in question is St. Luke’s story of Jesus healing the ten lepers. It will be remembered that only one of the ten thought to return to say his thanks. Two of the three cantatas are very serious in tone, using bodily sickness as a metaphor for mankind’s sinful condition. The exception is BWV 17, which picks up the theme of the grateful leper.
BWV 25, which dates from 1723, begins with a chorus that laments man’s sinfulness. The gravity of the counterpoint is underscored by the inclusion of a trio of sackbuts in the orchestra. Their imposing sonority contributes substantially to the monumental feel of the music, which is sung superbly by the Monteverdi Choir. The comparison between corporeal and spiritual sickness is emphasised in the very first recitative, which opens with the melodramatic statement, ‘Die ganze Welt ist nur ein Hospital’ (“The entire world is but a hospital”). James Gilchrist declaims this section graphically. But then Bach and his librettist change the mood and in the following bass aria the listener is presented with the image of Christ as the source of healing. Peter Harvey sings this aria most eloquently. Equal pleasure is to be found in the joyful, dancing soprano aria, ‘Öffne meinen schlechten Liedern’. This is beautifully sung by Malin Hartelius and the inclusion of a trio of recorders in the accompaniment adds a delightful touch.
BWV 78 (1724) also begins with an imposing chorus. This is a superb chorus of lamentation, which, as Sir John comments in his constantly illuminating notes, is on a par with the opening choruses of both the St. John and the St Matthew Passions. The delicious duet for soprano and alto that follows is in marked contrast. Gardiner comments that Bach “never wrote more smile-inducing music!” The voices of Malin Hartelius and Robin Tyson are very well matched and their performance is irresistible. As in BWV 25 the tenor recitative that follows returns to the theme of illness as a metaphor for sin and memories of the 1723 cantata are further invoked by the tenor aria, which once more dwells on Christ the healer. James Gilchrist really makes the words of the recitative leap off the page and he’s excellent too in the aria, ‘Dein Blut, so meine Schuld durchstreicht’ with its balmy flute obbligato. The flowing oboe obbligato in the aria ‘Nun du wirst mein Gewissen stillen’ is a delight, as is Peter Harvey’s splendid singing. My admiration for him as a Bach singer grows with every volume in this series in which he takes part. Here it’s the clarity with which he articulates divisions without sacrificing the line that impresses.
BWV 17 (1726) differs from Bach’s other cantatas for this Sunday by focussing on the gratitude of one of the healed lepers. Thus the mood of the music is happier. Gardiner aptly describes the opening chorus, in which the soloists have prominent roles, as “exhilarating and florid” and I love the way the rippling oboes in the orchestra are brought out to just the right degree. Later Malin Hartelius’ sparkling form continues with a nimble account of the aria ‘Herr, deine Güte reicht, so weit der Himmel ist.’ Not to be outdone James Gilchrist excels in the aria, ‘Welch übermass der Güte’, a piece that offers yet another example of how so much of Bach’s music is rooted in dance. The final chorale in this cantata calls for comment. It’s borrowed from the motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied BWV 225. Gardiner decided it should be sung quietly and unaccompanied. This approach is absolutely right for the text of the chorale and this lovely bit of singing brings to an end a very fine concert.
However, if the first CD in this set is very fine then its companion is a stunner. Gardiner tells us that right from the start of the planning of the Pilgrimage he’d marked out September 29, Michaelmas Day, as a red-letter day. Even by his standards the notes about this concert make compelling reading and he makes clear what a significant date this must have been in Bach’s Lutheran calendar for several reasons. Certainly the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, with its opportunities to depict heavenly battles, inspired Bach to write some exceptional music and that music in turn inspired Gardiner and his team to give some thrilling performances.
It’s not clear if the single movement that is BWV 50, and which is probably the only surviving movement of a larger work, was designed for this Feast. However, the text is apposite for it chimes in perfectly with the theme of the day. The scoring too, resplendent with trumpets and drums, is fully in keeping with the occasion. Gardiner leads a sizzling account of it.
The opening chorus of BWV 130 praises God for creating Angels. Gardiner’s description of this chorus is as memorable as is his conducting of it: “Bach begins by presenting a tableau of the angels on parade; these are celestial military manoeuvres, some of them even danced, rather than the battle itself.” The battle between the rival legions of Angels led by Michael and Lucifer is thrillingly depicted in the bass aria ‘Der alte Drache brennt vor Neid’. This exciting battle aria includes parts for no less than three trumpets as well as timpani. Peter Harvey is on top form here, giving a commanding account of the piece. Then Bach and his librettist move from the heat of battle to meditate on the protecting power of Angels, first in a lovely recitativo for soprano and tenor and then in the tenor aria, ‘Lass, o Fürst der Cherubinen’. The virtuoso gambolling in the flute obbligato suggests, perhaps, angels lightly dancing? James Gilchrist is excellent here but, as we shall see, both he and Bach have even greater delights in store for us later. The cantata ends with a two-verse chorale in which the trumpets decorate the end of each line to marvellous effect.
BWV 149 (1728/9) picks up a different aspect of the day’s liturgy. The tone of voice of this cantata differs from the other two Michaelmas cantatas in being “festive rather than combative”. In fact the opening chorus of rejoicing is recycled from the ‘Hunt’ cantata BWV 208 (1713). Peter Harvey brings splendid authority to his aria, ‘Kraft und Stärke sei gesungen’ and I also warmed very much to Malin Hartelius’ way with the aria ‘Gottes Engel weichen nie’. Also of note is the marvellous burbling bassoon obbligato under the well-matched singing of James Gilchrist and Richard Wyn Roberts in their duet.
Usually I comment on these discs in order of presentation as that, I believe, matches the way the cantatas were performed in concert. On this occasion, however, I’ve deliberately left the best till last for the performance of BWV 19 (1726) is of quite exceptional quality – as is the music itself. The opening chorus is an astonishing fugal creation depicting the battle in heaven between Michael’s loyal angels and the rebels who had thrown in their lot with Lucifer. Bach depicts the struggle with graphic music and I can’t imagine it more brilliantly realised than it is here. The virtuosity of the Monteverdi Choir is simply staggering and the performance is breathlessly exciting.
Then things calm down a bit and in the aria ‘Gott schickt uns Mahanaim zu’ Malin Hartelius blends beautifully with the intertwining pair of oboes that support her grateful vocal line. I’ve found that in many of the preceding volumes there is one stand-out performance that compels attention even in the midst of so much fine playing and singing. Here I have no hesitation in saying that the palm goes to James Gilchrist for his spellbinding rendition of the seraphic aria ‘Bleibt, ihr engel, bleibt bei mir.' In a note Gilchrist, whose mother is German with several family members living near Bremen, leaves us in no doubt that this concert was a special experience for him. Of this aria he writes, “I felt allowed – encouraged – truly to soar.” And soar he does! The voice is cushioned on the siciliano rhythm on the strings while a soft solo trumpet ethereally intones the chorale melody ‘Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, O Herr’ in the background. One notes from the booklet that the aria lasts for eight minutes but, in truth, the performance is timeless. Gilchrist’s singing, and his identification with the text and with Bach’s inspiration, is beyond praise. It is the highlight of a quite magnificent performance of a magnificent cantata.
In every respect this set lives up to the very high standards of previous issues in the series. The performances are superb throughout. Gardiner’s direction is inspired and his notes eloquent and illuminating. The recorded sound is first class. Gardiner’s cycle is already a major event in the Bach discography and this latest instalment adds further lustre to a distinguished series. It’s essential listening for all lovers of Bach’s cantatas. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750
For the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
Es ist nichts Gesundes an meinem Leibe BWV 25
1. Coro con Choral Es ist nichts Gesundes an meinem Leibe
2. Recitativo: Tenor Die ganze Welt ist nur ein Hospital
3. Aria: Bass Ach, wo hol ich Armer Rat?
4. Recitativo: Sopran O Jesu, lieber Meister
5. Aria: Sopran Öffne meinen schlechten Liedern
6. Choral Ich will alle meine Tage
Jesu, der du meine Seele BWV 78
1. Coro (Choral) Jesu, der du meine Seele
2. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Alt Wir eilen mit schwachen
3. Recitativo: Tenor Ach! ich bin ein Kind der Sünden
4. Aria: Tenor Dein Blut, so meine Schuld durchstreicht
5. Recitativo: Bass Die Wunden, Nägel, Kron und Grab
6. Aria: Bass Nun du wirst mein Gewissen stillen
7. Choral Herr, ich glaube, hilf mir Schwachem
Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich BWV 17
Part I
1. Coro Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich
2. Recitativo: Alt Es muss die ganze Welt ein stummer Zeuge werden
3. Aria: Sopran Herr, deine Güte reicht
Part II
4. Recitativo: Tenor Einer aber unter ihnen
5. Aria: Tenor Welch Übermaß der Güte
6. Recitativo: Bass Sieh meinen Willen an
7. Choral Wie sich ein Vat’r erbarmet

CD 2:
For the Feast of St Michael and All Angels
Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft BWV 50
1. Coro Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft
Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir BWV 130
1. Coro (Choral) Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir
2. Recitativo: Alt Ihr heller Glanz und hohe Weisheit zeigt
3. Aria: Bass Der alte Drache brennt vor Neid
4. Recitativo (Duetto): Sopran, Tenor Wohl aber uns, dass Tag und Nacht
5. Aria: Tenor Lass, o Fürst der Cherubinen
6. Choral Darum wir billig loben dich
Es erhub sich ein Streit BWV 19
1. Coro Es erhub sich ein Streit
2. Recitativo: Bass Gottlob! der Drache liegt
3. Aria: Sopran Gott schickt uns Mahanaim zu
4. Recitativo: Tenor Was ist der schnöde Mensch, das Erdenkind?
5. Aria con Choral: Tenor Bleibt, ihr Engel, bleibt bei mir!
6. Recitativo: Sopran Laßt uns das Angesicht
7. Choral Laß dein’ Engel mit mir fahren
Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg BWV 149
1. Coro Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg
2. Aria: Bass Kraft und Stärke sei gesungen
3. Recitativo: Alt Ich fürchte mich vor tausend Feinden nicht
4. Aria: Sopran Gottes Engel weichen nie
5. Recitativo: Tenor Ich danke dir
6. Aria (Duetto): Alt, Tenor Seid wachsam, ihr heiligen Wächter
7. Choral Ach Herr, lass dein lieb Engelein

2006 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact disc
Volume 7 SDG 124

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Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 6

2011-11-19T06:30:00.000-06:00

Volume Six in the series contains cantatas for two consecutive Sundays after Trinity. As Sir John points out in his notes, these are highly contrasting Sundays. The Twelfth Sunday brings “ a rarity – one of the most cheerful programmes of the whole Trinity season.” He continues, with a characteristically memorable turn of phrase, “After so many consecutive weeks of fire and brimstone and dire warnings against devilish temptations, forked tongues, false prophets and the like, it comes as a huge relief to encounter three genial, celebratory pieces…” As we shall see, for Bach the following Sunday represented a case of back to business as usual but on the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity we catch him wearing a smile.
The concert on 10 September 2000 was given in one of the places particularly associated with Bach. At the very end of 1717 he began a five-year stint in Köthen as Kapellmeister at the court of Prince Leopold, and the church in which these cantatas were performed would have been very familiar to him. However, all three of these cantatas date from Bach’s Leipzig period; music such as this would have been very infrequently heard in Köthen, where Prince Leopold followed a strict Calvinist observance, which admitted little in the way of figural music into the liturgy. I suspect, in fact, that the celebratory air of much of the music in these three cantatas would have been anathema to the Prince and his court.
The Gospel for the Twelfth Sunday is found in chapter seven of St. Mark’s Gospel and relates the story of the healing by Jesus of a deaf mute so there’s plenty of scope for Bach and his librettists to draw parallels and use metaphors comparing physical healing and the healing of souls. BWV 69a (1723), which includes parts for three each of trumpets and oboes, as well as for timpani, opens with a lavish and ambitious choral movement, which is tremendously exciting and calls for great virtuosity from the singers – the soloists are involved also. It’s thrillingly delivered here. The tenor soloist is Christoph Genz, to whom falls the exacting aria ‘Meine Seele, auf, erzähle’. This is a lilting, pastoral creation with a wonderfully inventive accompaniment in which recorder, oboe da caccia and bassoon are prominent. It’s airily sung by Genz, whose flexible and essentially light voice is well suited to the passagework and often demanding tessitura. Later in the cantata comes a fine bass aria, ‘Mein Erlöser und Erhalter’, which is enriched by a syncopated obbligato for oboe d’amore. The ever-reliable Peter Harvey sings it very well. The concluding chorale is a slight adaptation of one borrowed from an earlier cantata, BWV 12, which has already figured in this series.
BWV 35 (1726) is, in some ways, no less extrovert a piece, although the orchestral scoring is much less full than in BWV 69a and only a solo alto is involved. This cantata is in two parts – presumably one part was heard on either side of the sermon – and each part is introduced by an elaborate sinfonia in which the organ takes centre stage. In fact, Alfred Dürr and other Bach scholars suggest that the movements in question derive from a concerto for oboe and strings, now lost, which may have been composed, appropriately enough, during Bach’s Köthen days. If that’s so, I found it slightly piquant to wonder how often, if at all, this music had been heard in the city since it was first composed there.
The organ, superbly played by Ian Watson, dances delightfully in the opening sinfonia and Watson plays an equally stellar role in the gay music of the second sinfonia. Elsewhere he makes telling contributions in support of the solo singer. In 1726 Bach must have had the services, at least for a while, of an outstanding alto soloist for this cantata is but one of a trio of magnificent cantatas for solo alto, all composed within a matter of a few weeks. Vergnügte Ruh, beliebete Seelenlust, BWV 170, was written for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity and Gott soll allein mein Herze haben, BWV 169 appeared on the Eighteenth Sunday. Exactly in between these two came BWV 35.
Gardiner’s original intention had been to use a female singer, Sara Mingardo, for this performance but she was obliged to withdraw at the last minute, we are told, and Robin Tyson stepped into the breach. There is nothing at all last minute about his performance, however, for he sings with splendid assurance and complete identification both with the words and the music. He begins with an extended aria, ‘Geist und Seele wird verwirret’, in which he’s very expressive. The following recitative extols the miracles of healing that were worked by Christ, which Tyson delivers very well. This gives way to a perky, joyful aria in which the loving care of God for his people is celebrated. Here both Tyson and Ian Watson display delightful agility. Part two brings the final aria, a more stately dance of joy in which the organ part is again prominent. Dürr points the contrast and paradox between the opening and concluding movements of this cantata. Bach says “as it were, ‘Yes’ to life at the opening, by praising the healing miracles of Jesus, and a still more emphatic ‘Yes’ to death at the close in a prayer for a speedy end to life.” This journey from one acceptance to another calls forth some fine invention from Bach and Tyson, Watson and Gardiner emerge with great credit from this performance.
Trumpets and drums return for BWV 137 (1725). This is a five-movement chorale cantata, based on the hymn tune known to English churchgoers as ‘Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation.’ The festive and lively first movement is, as Gardiner says. “irrepressible in its rhythmic vitality.” Here the excellent Monteverdi choir really comes into its own with singing that is committed, crisp and buoyant. In the second stanza the alto soloist sings the hymn tune while an elaborate violin obbligato provides abundant decoration. The third movement features a pair of obbligato oboes supporting a duet between soprano and bass soloists. As so often, Gardiner finds the mot juste, describing the canonic interplay between singers and instrumentalists –and each other – as akin to a game of mixed doubles. In the fourth verse a florid tenor solo, fluently executed by Genz, is in the foreground while the hymn tune is heard behind him, played on solo trumpet. Finally a majestic choral verse unites the full forces.
These three splendid cantatas are given excellent performances and the whole concert constitutes a fine tribute to Bach in one of the cities indelibly associated with his music.
The next Sunday found the Pilgrims in Frankfurt. The venue was not, on this occasion, a church dating from Bach’s time but the nineteenth century Dreikönigskirche, which Gardiner describes as “rather forbidding and gloomy.” I said earlier that this Sunday saw Bach resume business as usual but Sir John puts it rather more eloquently. “Sure enough, after the breezy pleasures of last week’s celebratory pieces – a brief reprieve – came the cold shower of our man’s resumption of the earnest process of musical exegesis.” Herein, surely, lies one of the cardinal virtues of this CD series. Gardiner and his team were living the week-in, week-out liturgical cycle of cantatas in a way that, surely, no one else has done so consistently since Bach’s time and, as the series unfolds and becomes more complete, the listener too can follow this process – and through live performances – and savour the contrasts not just between Sundays but also between Bach’s different responses at divers times to the liturgy of any one particular Sunday. Here, for example, we have three cantatas, all from the Leipzig cycles, which in different ways respond to the liturgy of the day and in particular, to the Gospel story of the Good Samaritan (Luke, 10. vv 23-37).
BWV 77 (1723) begins with a huge and elaborately constructed chorus in which Bach displays tremendous compositional virtuosity. The movement is based on an old chorale melody, used by Luther for one of his hymns, but dating back well before Luther’s time. The music is magnificently and powerfully projected and Gardiner’s direction displays great attention to detail and to the spirit of the piece. The bass soloist, who we meet in the first recitative, is a newcomer to the series, Jonathan Brown. He proves to be a reliable singer.
A much better known singer is Nathalie Stutzmann, who we’ve encountered in some previous releases. Some “authentic” Bach exponents seem completely to eschew the female alto voice in the cantatas. Much though I like the counter tenor voice in Bach I’m delighted that Gardiner is flexible in this respect, choosing voices that best suit the music. She has the lovely aria, ‘Ach, es bleibt in meiner Liebe’. In this section her rich tone contrasts beautifully with the haunting, almost fragile trumpet obbligato in the background. I don’t know if the player, Niklas Eklund, was placed at a distance but it sounds as if he was. Whether or not, the effect is magical and Gardiner is correct to draw attention in his notes to Eklund’s superb playing.
BWV 164 (1725) starts not with a chorus but with a demanding tenor aria, authoritatively sung by Christoph Genz. The cantata also features a wonderful alto aria, ‘Nur durch Lieb und durch Erbarmen.’ This aria is adorned by a balmy pair of flutes and in the piece, as Gardiner comments, “the essence of true compassion is evoked.” It’s evoked even more strongly thanks to the expressive way in which Nathalie Stutzmann sings the aria.
Finally we hear BWV 33 (1724), the lengthiest of this trio of cantatas. The violins and, even more so, a pair of athletic oboes, drive on the music of the opening chorale fantasia. At the heart of the cantata, and accounting for almost half the length of this performance, is the sublime alto aria ‘Wie furchtstam wankten meine Schritte’. Not the least interesting feature of this aria is the texture of the orchestral accompaniment. The first violins play con sordini against a pizzicato background, creating a rather special atmosphere. If there were no other justification for the decision to engage Nathalie Stutzmann for this concert – and that’s far from being the case – her superb singing here amply vindicates Gardiner’s shrewd choice. Her velvet tone is just right for the melodic line and she sings with great – but not overdone – feeling. This seamless and elevated aria just seems to go on and on, yet one regrets it coming to an end. This, for me, is the highlight of this entire set. Before the end of the cantata Genz and Jonathan Brown are suitably virile in their duet, to which a busy pair of oboes also makes a fine contribution.
This is yet another distinguished release in this excellent series. All the usual high standards of previous volumes are maintained. The singing, both solo and choral, is never less than excellent; the sound is first class; and Sir John proves yet again to be a perspicacious and committed guide to Bach, whether as conductor or annotator. But, of course, as ever the real hero is Bach and yet again we marvel at his seemingly inexhaustible invention and sheer industry and at his ability to express and communicate his Lutheran Christian faith for the benefit of the Leipzig congregations and, over two hundred years later, for ours. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

CD 1:
For the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity
Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele BWV 69a
1. Coro Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele
2. Recitativo: Sopran Ach, dass ich tausend Zungen hätte!
3. Aria: Tenor Meine Seele, auf, erzähle
4. Recitativo: Alt Gedenk ich nur zurück
5. Aria: Bass Mein Erlöser und Erhalter
6. Choral Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
Geist und Seele wird verwirret BWV 35
Part I
1. Sinfonia
2. Aria: Alt Geist und Seele wird verwirret
3. Recitativo: Alt Ich wundre mich
4. Aria: Alt Gott hat alles wohlgemacht
Part II
5. Sinfonia
6. Recitativo: Alt Ach, starker Gott
7. Aria: Alt Ich wünsche nur bei Gott zu leben
Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren BWV 137
1. Versus I: Coro Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren
2. Versus II: Alt Lobe den Herren, der alles so herrlich regieret
3. Versus III: Sopran, Bass Lobe den Herren, der künstlich und fein dich bereitet
4. Versus IV: Tenor Lobe den Herren, der deinen Stand sichtbar gesegnet
5. Versus V: Choral Lobe den Herren, was in mir ist, lobe den Namen!

CD 2:
For the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
Du sollt Gott, deinen Herren, lieben BWV 77
1. Coro con Choral Du sollt Gott, deinen Herren, lieben
2. Recitativo: Bass So muss es sein!
3. Aria: Sopran Mein Gott, ich liebe dich von Herzen
4. Recitativo: Tenor Gib mir dabei, mein Gott! ein Samariterherz
5. Aria: Alt Ach, es bleibt in meiner Liebe
6. Choral Ach Herr, ich wollte ja dein Recht
Ihr, die ihr euch von Christo nennet BWV 164
1. Aria: Tenor Ihr, die ihr euch von Christo nennet
2. Recitativo: Bass Wir hören zwar, was selbst die Liebe spricht
3. Aria: Alt Nur durch Lieb und durch Erbarmen
4. Recitativo: Tenor Ach, schmelze doch durch deinen Liebesstrahl
5. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Bass Händen, die sich nicht verschließen
6. Choral Ertöt uns durch dein’ Güte
Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ BWV 33
1. Coro (Choral) Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ
2. Recitativo: Bass Mein Gott und Richter
3. Aria: Alt Wie furchtsam wankten meine Schritte
4. Recitativo: Tenor Mein Gott, verwirf mich nicht
5. Aria (Duetto): Tenor, Bass Gott, der du die Liebe heißt
6. Choral Ehr sei Gott in dem höchsten Thron

2007 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 6 SDG 134

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Anoushka Shankar TRAVELLER

2011-11-18T02:00:00.000-06:00

No one embodies the spirit of innovation and experimentation more evidently than Anoushka Shankar. With her deep-seated understanding of Indian classical form and the rich heritage of her father's innovative genius, Anoushka is constantly pushing boundaries on every level. In Traveller - her debut album on Deutsche Grammophon - she finds her way into the nuances of modern flamenco through the vivid lens of Hindustani technique. In essence, Traveller charts the spiritual link across time and space of two highly evolved forms of musical expression, from their ancient gestation to their modern zenith. This is an album of innovation and rebirth - a perfect culmination of old and new. How appropriate then that the driving force behind this album was the birth of Anoushka's first child.
“It was a love of the music that inspired me to make this flamenco album and bring together these two traditions", says Anoushka Shankar. “I've always loved flamenco and had a fascination for it. There's always been that pull towards something I find very similar in flamenco to what I cherish in Indian classical music: a kind of uninhibited musicality in expression, whether it's a solo voice, a sitar or a guitar. Of course there were common roots and technical similarities to explore, and when you start to play with those, you can really delve down in very delicious ways. However the desire came from simply being an admirer of the music, and wanting to learn about it through making music."
Flamenco has its roots in India. Many of the great modern exponents of this fiery tradition are keen to emphasize and rediscover that connection. Dancers from Joaquín Cortés to Sandra La Espuelita have, at the beginning of their shows, stated that cultural origin very clearly. Guitar masters Pepe Habichuela and Paco de Lucía, the latter notably in his work with John McLaughlin, have brought strong references to that cultural history into their compositions. The modern, popular Spanish band Ojos de Brujo and the lesser known Indialucía ebulliently celebrate flamenco's Eastern heritage.
Asked what drew him particularly to Indian classical music and Anoushka Shankar's style of playing, Javier Limón explains: “When Anoushka plays pure Indian music, for us she's playing pure flamenco - for all the Gypsies, for Paco [de Lucía] and me, for all of us. When she plays Indian we sometimes say: 'Hey, you play flamenco very well, this is flamenco.' And she always answers: 'No, no, no, this was Indian, pure Indian.' The frontier is not clear because many centuries ago, maybe eight, the Gypsies came from Rajasthan and brought a lot from there to the flamenco style, to flamenco music. They created what we know today as flamenco with the Christians and Jews in Spain and with the Arabs. That's why there are a lot of things in common that make our musical forms brothers. Flamenco is very young, about 200 years old. For me, flamenco is like the little brother of Indian music."
Little is known about the real history of that connection. It is largely supposed that flamenco has its roots in the exodus of “Untouchables" from the Punjab around 800-900 AD. These people became the Gypsies/Romanies of lore, traversing Asia and the Middle East, eventually settling in Europe. Today Rajasthani Gypsies can be seen using ancient castanets to embellish their songs about nomadic existence and spiritual devotion. It is through these songs that the origin of flamenco can be clearly identified. A defining element of flamenco music is undeniably the singing, cante. In fact, flamenco initially consisted purely of cante, with handclapping - palmas sordas - or knuckle rapping providing percussive accompaniment. The guitar, a variation of the Arabic 'ûd, was gradually incorporated in the 19th century.
In most academic research or exploration of flamenco, little is made of the technical connections with Indian classical traditions. For musicians and dancers, however, it is easy to trace the origins of flamenco even further back to the Natya Shastra, an Indian treatise on the arts and spirituality believed to have been written between 200 BC and 200 AD. It is here that theories were first expounded on how dance, theatre and music should have a common language for communication and collaboration. This is still quite evident in the strong rhythmic bond between kathak dancers and tabla players in north India and between bharata-nâtyam dancers and mridangam virtuosos in the south. What is even more fascinating is how echoes of the Natya Shastra can still be discovered in the intricate footwork of flamenco dancers and reciprocated in the equally complex polyrhythms of the cajón and guitar. Nowhere outside India and Spain is this powerful rhythmic connection between dancer and musician so evident.
Recently there has been a mutual excitement for dancers and musicians from India and Spain rediscovering their ancient ties and common oral source. Indian classical dancer Rajika Puri has described the technical challenges of that recoupling when working with flamenco dancers and musicians: “Next thing I knew, my body began to execute the strong sharp lines of bharata-nâtyam adavus. My feet began to stamp with the force of the south Indian dance form, as I learnt to end, not on our sam - which would be their beat12 - but on beat10!"
In the Hindustani tradition, sam is the climactic point of a cycle, normally emphasized by the first beat. This perception of sam landing on the first beat of a cycle differs from the flamenco 12-beat form bulería, in that the feeling of sam is switched to the 12thbeat - a technique perpetuated by Paco de Lucía to create a constant sense of flow. Thus, even now, flamenco can be considered a dynamic extension of the Indian classical form, constantly evolving to embrace new ideas across the Diaspora.
“In conceiving this album I was focused on the forms of Indian classical music and flamenco, but also on finding themes and emotions", remarks Anoushka Shankar. “Naturally all the pieces have different inspirations and origins. Some of them, like Inside Me, were melodies that Javier wrote and came to me with after our initial meeting. I had written out a list of some of the more simple râgas that I could just give a do-re-mi for, and then he chose some of those and stretched himself to write within a single scale. Some songs, like Casi uno, came about spontaneously, and in others, like Si no puedo verla, I deliberately searched out lyrics by the great Sufi poet Amir Khusrau to connect the song to India. But my favourite moments would happen when we discovered things together. Boy Meets Girl, written with Pepe Habichuela, is an example of what can happen with a project like this. While Javier was teaching me the chord progression of a granaína [one of the classical flamenco cante], I began to play in râga Manj Khamâj. We realized that in that particular scale, I could plan to end on the appropriate notes needed for the granaína but still play the Indian râga purely. So the song exists in two ancient forms simultaneously."
“It was beautiful", enthuses Javier Limón, reflecting on the making of this album. “Anoushka changed my life: now I have a different concept of the music. When she played granaína, it was like hearing a flamenco singer, not a flamenco guitar: that's the amazing thing. I think that guitar players are going to learn a lot from her. How she expresses the melodies makes me cry."

1. Inside Me [3:19]
2. Buleria con Ricardo [6:03]
3. Krishna [5:50]
4. Si no puedo verla [5:15]
5. Dancing in Madness [4:29]
6. Boy Meets Girl [4:56]
7. Kanya [4:55]
8. Traveller [3:41]
9. ISHQ [4:21]
10. Casi Uno [5:26]
11. Bhairavi [10:26]
12. Lola's Lullaby [4:14]

2011 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg
1 CD DDD
477 9363 2 GH

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Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 5

2011-11-17T09:20:00.000-06:00

In his notes, Gardiner wonders what happened in late July 1724 that might have stirred the good Leipzig Cantor’s bile. Maybe he was only reacting to the lesson of the day (the eighth Sunday after Trinity), a stern admonition against hypocrisy, but the music he composed for Cantata 178, first performed on the 30th of that month, is relentlessly assertive, and, as Gardiner discovered, hard on the musicians. But in performance Gardiner soldiers on, and so does his ensemble, turning out a muscular realization of this potent score. Bach may have been a little calmer a year before, when he composed Cantata 136. The hypocrites were targets then, too, but the mood was more festive and the arias more forgiving. Likewise, in the middle of Cantata 45 a harsh warning, delivered in a blistering bass arioso, is mitigated by gentler arias. The impressive opening chorus of Cantata 46 is a complex melding of motet-style choral writing and concertato-style orchestral accompaniment.
The second disc skips ahead to the 10th Sunday after Trinity and its lesson of the destruction of Jerusalem, a warning (that word again!) of the imminence of judgment. The opening chorus of Cantata 46 is in two parts, the first of which, subtly altered, was the model for the Qui Tollis of the B-Minor Mass and immediately recognizable as such. Fewer listeners are likely to identify the opening chorus of Cantata 102 as the source of the Kyrie of the Latin Mass in G Minor, BWV 235. (Dear readers: Should you sense that I have a tendency to repeat myself, please keep in mind that I’ve had an unimpeachable example to follow.) God’s judgment is again delivered by a raging bass aria, this time amplified by the trumpet. But a soothing alto aria, paired with a recorder, assures the congregants of Jesus’s protection. The outstanding feature of Cantata 101 is its unremittingly serious opening chorus mourning the destruction of the city. The hope of redemption is offered in the soprano and alto duet that leads to the closing chorale. The aforementioned opening chorus of BWV 102 is a marvel, even for Bach. The aria for tenor and flute was later adapted for another short Mass, BWV 233, in F.
Gardiner brings his accustomed sensitivity and perhaps even a little more than his usual vitality to these performances. He may have been inspired by the exceptional challenge posed by Cantata 178. His musicians respond in kind. This is another winner from the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage. (George Chien)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
CD 1:
For the Eighth Sunday after Trinity
Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält BWV 178
1. Coro (Choral) Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält
2. Choral e Recitativo: Alt Was Menschenkraft und -witz anfäht
3. Aria: Bass Gleichwie die wilden Meereswellen
4. Choral: Tenor Sie stellen uns wie Ketzern nach
5. Choral e Recitativo: Bass, Tenor, Alt Auf sperren sie den Rachen weit
6. Aria: Tenor Schweig, schweig nur, taumelnde Vernunft!
7. Choral Die Feind sind all in deiner Hand
Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz BWV 136
1. Coro Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz
2. Recitativo: Tenor Ach, dass der Fluch, so dort die Erde schlägt
3. Aria: Alt Es kömmt ein Tag
4. Recitativo: Bass Die Himmel selber sind nicht rein
5. Aria (Duetto): Tenor, Bass Uns treffen zwar der Sünden Flecken
6. Choral Dein Blut, der edle Saft
Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist BWV 45
Part I
1. Coro Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist
2. Recitativo: Tenor Der Höchste lässt mich seinen Willen wissen
3. Aria: Tenor Weiß ich Gottes Rechte
Part II
4. Arioso: Bass Es werden viele zu mir sagen an jenem Tage
5. Aria: Alt Wer Gott bekennt aus wahrem Herzensgrund
6. Recitativo: Alt So wird denn Herz und Mund selbst von mir Richter sein
7. Choral Gib, dass ich tu mit Fleiß

CD 2:
For the Tenth Sunday after Trinity
Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgendein Schmerz sei BWV 46
1. Coro Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgendein Schmerz sei
2. Recitativo: Tenor So klage du, zerstörte Gottesstadt
3. Aria: Bass Dein Wetter zog sich auf von weiten
4. Recitativo: Alt Doch bildet euch, o Sünder, ja nicht ein
5. Aria: Alt Doch Jesus will auch bei der Strafe
6. Choral O großer Gott von Treu
Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott BWV 101
1. Coro (Choral) Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott
2. Aria: Tenor Handle nicht nach deinen Rechten
3. Recitativo e Choral: Sopran Ach! Herr Gott, durch die Treue dein
4. Aria: Bass Warum willst du so zornig sein?
5. Recitativo e Choral: Tenor Die Sünd hat uns verderbet sehr
6. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Alt Gedenk an Jesu bittern Tod!
7. Choral Leit uns mit deiner rechten Hand
Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben! BWV 102
Part I
1. Coro Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben!
2. Recitativo: Bass Wo ist das Ebenbild, das Gott uns eingepräget
3. Aria: Alt Weh der Seele, die den Schaden
4. Arioso: Bass Verachtest du den Reichtum seiner Gnade
Part II
5. Aria: Tenor Erschrecke doch, du allzu sichre Seele!
6. Recitativo: Alt Beim Warten ist Gefahr
7. Choral Heut lebst du, heut bekehre dich

2008 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 5 SDG 147

You can buy it on Amazon.com

You can download here: Disc One / Disc Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 4

2011-11-16T16:05:00.001-06:00

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity found Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his pilgrims in Ansbach, where their concert was part of the Ansbach Bach week. Their programme included BWV 170, one of three cantatas for solo alto that Bach produced within the space of a few weeks in 1726, probably because he had the services of a particularly accomplished alto at that time. Michael Chance certainly comes under the heading of accomplished altos and he gives a very good account of the cantata. The heavenly, pastoral opening aria is phrased extremely well and Chance’s tone is very pleasing. I had a slight concern that, to my ears, he was a shade too emphatic in his delivery of some isolated words. I was very interested to learn from Sir John’s notes that when Bach’s son, Wilhelm Friedemann, proposed revising the cantata in 1750 he was only interested in performing this opening aria. I’ve always felt a bit guilty that I regard the rest of the cantata as something of an anti-climax and I’m slightly reassured to find that perhaps I’m not alone in this.
Michael Chance sounds to be convinced by the rest of the music, however. He’s imaginative in the declamatory recitative that forms the second movement. He also sings the third section of the cantata well. Here, Bach’s rather stark accompaniment contrasts with the richer hues of an alto voice. The final movement is lively and more upbeat in tone and Chance and the players of the EBS turn in a spirited account of it.
The programme opens with BWV 9, a cantata which I can’t recall hearing before. Alfred Dürr describes the opening chorus as “a highly spirited movement of multifarious motivic allusions.” It’s certainly an inventive composition and the Monteverdi Choir and the EBS give an agile and airy performance of it. The key movement in the cantata is the third one, an extended tenor aria. It was fascinating to read of the debate that went on in rehearsal between Sir John and his soloist, James Gilchrist. It seems that Gilchrist, who hadn’t sung the piece before, felt that a “fast, urgent delivery” was appropriate. Gardiner, on the other hand, “saw it more as a slow, contemplative dance, despondent and heartsick in its unremitting gloom and its emphasis on the death knell.” I think Gardiner’s view is supported by the words of the aria, which are certainly gloomy, although it’s interesting that Dürr says that the music “depict[s] a giddy descent into the abyss of sin”, a description which implies a certain degree of speed. In this performance Gardiner’s view prevailed and the bleak nature of the aria was emphasised by his decision to pare down the accompaniment so that only a single violin and a cello continuo are involved. The aria is an unsettling experience in this reading. I have to say, though, that while I tend to side with Gardiner over the conception of the aria I wonder if his chosen speed isn’t just a bit too lugubrious. The music doesn’t quite flow and even sounds a touch laboured at times while occasionally both Gilchrist and the two string players seem a little uncomfortable.
A different mood is struck in the second aria, which is a duet for soprano and alto. This is a delightful and very cleverly constructed canonic movement in which not only the two singers proceed in canon but also the flute and oboe d’amore. Yet, despite the technical skill and intellectual rigour with which Bach has composed the movement, the listener is never conscious of this – which is down to the skill of the performers. Joanne Lunn’s singing is especially pleasing here.
To conclude Gardiner offers us a re-working, attributed to Bach, of an impressive five-part motet by his predecessor in Leipzig, Johann Kuhnau. This funeral motet, Der Gerechte kommt um is tremendously intense and yet very dignified. The performance by the Monteverdi Choir is quite outstanding and it makes a genuinely moving conclusion to the programme.
For the following Sunday the Pilgrims crossed the North Sea to Haddington, in East Lothian, a market town some twenty miles from Edinburgh. Their first offering, BWV 186, is a re-working of a cantata originally composed in Weimar in 1716 for the Third Sunday in Advent. In its revised form the cantata has eleven sections and is divided into two parts. The opening chorus is interesting not only because the music is of high quality but also on account of the slightly unusual construction. It’s in ABABA form and in the B sections the choir sings a cappella except for a bass continuo line. Stephen Loges, the bass soloist, impresses, as he has done in previous volumes. Tenor Kobie van Rensburg has also been heard before in the series. He sings his aria, ‘Mein Heiland lässt sich merken’, well though personally I’d prefer a voice with a bit more sweetness in the tone. Rensburg has a strong ring to his tone but it can sound a little harsh. Katharine Fuge sings delightfully in her aria ‘Die Armen will der Herr umarmen’. She also makes a fine contribution to the soprano/alto duet – a minor key gigue - that forms the penultimate movement of the cantata, though her alto partner doesn’t make as strong an impression.
BWV 107 is rather an unusual cantata in that Bach took an old German hymn for his text, which he often did, but then set the text without alteration or paraphrase, something which, so far as we know, he’d last done as long ago as 1707 in the cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4. The present cantata, like BWV 186, opens with a fine chorus and once again this is excellently delivered. Loges manages to be both imposing and agile in his aria, ‘Auf ihn magst du es wagen’. That’s followed by a tenor aria, ‘Wenn auch gleich aus der Höllen’. The music is dramatic and fiery and this suits Kobie van Rensburg’s strongly projected voice very well. Then he lightens his voice appreciably for his second aria, the much more restrained ‘Drum ich mich ihm ergebe’ and the result is very pleasing. In between these two tenor arias comes a soprano stanza, which Katharine Fuge sings with much grace. The lilting orchestral accompaniment to the concluding chorale is a slight surprise – but a very pleasant one.
Finally we hear another bi-partite cantata, BWV 187. The text is concerned with the harvest and the bounties of creation and with thanksgiving for them. The extended opening chorus begins with a lengthy orchestral introduction, which ushers in some very fine choral writing. The movement is expertly articulated by all concerned. Part I contains a bass recitative and an aria for the alto. I’m afraid that I didn’t warm much to Richard Wyn Roberts’ delivery of the aria; I found his tone on the thin side. Katharine Fuge, on the other hand, excels in the soprano aria in Part II. This is an interesting conception in which the singer – and her excellent oboe obbligato partner – present rather ceremonial music around a livelier central section. The music – and this performance – do indeed, as the text enjoins, banish worries. Incidentally, much of the music in this cantata was recycled by Bach some years later into the Gloria of his Missa in G minor, BWV 235.
With one or two slight reservations about the soloists, this instalment in the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage is a worthy addition to the series. As usual Sir John Eliot Gardiner contributes a fascinating and illuminating note – though citizens of Ansbach may shuffle uneasily in their seats at his views on their rather stuffy approach to applause! As ever, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque soloists are on fine form. Those collecting this excellent series can once more invest with confidence. (John Quinn, MusicWeb International

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
CD 1:
For the Sixth Sunday after Trinity
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her BWV 9
1. Coro (Choral) Es ist das Heil uns kommen her
2. Recitativo: Bass Gott gab uns ein Gesetz
3. Aria: Tenor Wir waren schon zu tief gesunken
4. Recitativo: Bass Doch musste das Gesetz erfüllet werden
5. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Alt Herr, du siehst statt guter Werke
6. Recitativo: BassWenn wir die Sünd aus dem Gesetz erkennen
7. Choral Ob sich’s anließ, als wollt er nicht
Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust BWV 170
1. Aria: Alt Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust
2. Recitativo: Alt Die Welt, das Sündenhaus
3. Aria: Alt Wie jammern mich doch die verkehrten Herzen
4. Recitativo: Alt Wer sollte sich demnach
5. Aria: Alt Mir ekelt mehr zu leben
Kuhnau/Bach (attrib.): Der Gerechte kommt um
Der Gerechte kommt um
CD 2:
For the Seventh Sunday after Trinity
Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht BWV 186
Part I
1. Coro Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht
2. Recitativo: Bass Die Knechtsgestalt, die Not, der Mangel
3. Aria: Bass Bist du, der mir helfen soll
4. Recitativo: Tenor Ach, dass ein Christ so sehr
5. Aria: Tenor Mein Heiland lässt sich merken
6. Choral Ob sich’s anließ, als wollt er nicht
Part II
7. Recitativo: Bass Es ist die Welt die große Wüstenei
8. Aria: Sopran Die Armen will der Herr umarmen
9. Recitativo: Alt Nun mag die Welt mit ihrer Lust vergehen
10. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Alt Laß, Seele, kein Leiden
11. Choral Die Hoffnung wart’ der rechten Zeit
Was willst du dich betrüben BWV 107
1. Versus I: Choral Was willst du dich betrüben
2. Versus II: Bass Denn Gott verlässet keinen
3. Versus III: Bass Auf ihn magst du es wagen
4. Versus IV: Tenor Wenn auch gleich aus der Höllen
5. Versus V: Sopran Es richt’s zu seinen Ehren
6. Versus VI: Tenor Drum ich mich ihm ergebe
7. Versus VII: Choral Herr, gib, dass ich dein Ehre
Es wartet alles auf dich BWV 187
Part I
1. Coro Es wartet alles auf dich
2. Recitativo: Bass Was Kreaturen hält
3. Aria: Alt Du Herr, du krönst allein das Jahr mit deinem Gut
Part II
4. Aria: Bass Darum sollt ihr nicht sorgen noch sagen
5. Aria: Sopran Gott versorget alles Leben
6. Recitativo: Sopran Halt ich nur fest an ihm mit kindlichem Vertrauen
7. Choral Gott hat die Erde zugericht’

2009 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 4 SDG 156

You can buy it on Amazon.com
You can download here: Disc One / Disc Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 3

2011-11-15T09:50:00.003-06:00

As ever, John Eliot Gardiner’s magnificent Bach Cantatas series eschews the big-boned, monumental approach to this composer of yesteryear. Here, in a really tremendous volume, is spiritual reflection paced to the fast-moving ebb and flow of life today. As such, it always feels relevant and vital. And much of that stems from the fact that Gardiner’s players and singers sound so utterly involved through every bar. Even if it doesn’t approach the polish of some versions, and one or two of the singers are not quite of the vocal quality of rivals, still they perform as if in response to some higher call. Among conductors, of course, few rank higher than Gardiner. And, as ever, the tempi and textures are warm and above all channel a sense of the humane. Woven into the whole are countless magical virtuoso moments – these may be great shared experiences, but the space for individual expression constantly keeps it personal. When the big collective moments do arrive, as at the end of Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, they do so with great force. And, as the marvellous Monteverdi Choir beseech Jesus for mercy, for the strength to resist temptation, there is no question as to the cumulative power of these readings. (Gramophone, 5/2008)

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750
CD 1:
For the Fourth Sunday after Trinity
Ein ungefärbt Gemüte BWV 24
1. Aria: Alt Ein ungefärbt Gemüte
2. Recitativo: Tenor Die Redlichkeit ist eine von den Gottesgaben
3. Coro Alles nun, das ihr wollet
4. Recitativo: Bass Die Heuchelei ist eine Brut
5. Aria: Tenor Treu und Wahrheit sei der Grund
6. Choral O Gott, du frommer Gott
Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe BWV 185
1. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Tenor Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe
2. Recitativo: Alt Ihr Herzen, die ihr euch
3. Aria: Alt Sei bemüht in dieser Zeit
4. Recitativo: Bass Die Eigenliebe schmeichelt sich!
5. Aria: Bass Das ist der Christen Kunst
6. Choral Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ
Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ BWV 177
1. Coro Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ
2. Aria: Alt Ich bitt noch mehr, o Herre Gott
3. Aria: Sopran Verleih, dass ich aus Herzensgrund
4. Aria: Tenor Lass mich kein Lust noch Furcht von dir
5. Choral Ich lieg im Streit und widerstreb
For the Fifth Sunday after Trinity
Gott ist mein König BWV 71
(For the inauguration of the Mühlhausen town council)
1. Coro Gott ist mein König
2. Aria: Tenor con Choral: Sopran Ich bin nun achtzig Jahr
3. Quartetto: Sopran, Alt, Tenor, Bass Dein Alter sei wie deine Jugend
4. Arioso: Bass Tag und Nacht ist dein
5. Aria: Alt Durch mächtige Kraft
6. Coro Du wollest dem Feinde
7. Coro Das neue Regiment
CD 2:
Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir BWV 131
1. Coro Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir
2. Arioso: Bass con Choral: Sopran So du willst, Herr, Sünde zurechnen
3. Coro Ich harre des Herrn
4. Aria: Tenor con Choral: Alt Meine Seele wartet auf den Herrn
5. Coro Israel hoffe auf den Herrn
Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten BWV 93
1. Coro (Choral)Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten
2. Choral e Recitativo: BassWas helfen uns die schweren Sorgen?
3. Aria: Tenor Man halte nur ein wenig stille
4. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Alt Er kennt die rechten Freudesstunden
5. Choral e Recitativo: Tenor Denk nicht in deiner Drangsalshitze
6. Aria: Sopran Ich will auf den Herren schaun
7. Choral Sing, bet und geh auf Gottes Wegen
Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden BWV 88
Part I
1. Aria: Bass Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden
2. Recitativo: Tenor Wie leichtlich könnte doch der Höchste
3. Aria: Tenor Nein, Gott ist allezeit geflissen
Part II
4. Recitativo: Tenor ed Arioso: Bass Jesus sprach zu Simon
5. Aria (Duetto): Sopran, Alt Beruft Gott selbst, so muss der Segen
6. Recitativo: SopranWas kann dich denn in deinem Wandel schrecken
7. Choral Sing, bet und geh auf Gottes Wegen

2008 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs

Volume 3 SDG 141

You can buy it on Amazon.com

You can download here: Disc One / Disc Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 2

2011-11-14T19:40:00.001-06:00

There are some of Bach's finest choral movements among the five cantatas featured on these two CDs, works intended for the second and third Sundays after Trinity. And although John Eliot Gardiner's "Bach pilgrimage" cantata cycle has had its hits and misses, here there's no doubt that Gardiner and his choir and orchestra really shine, whether elucidating the pleading text and illuminating the chromatic fugal textures of the opening of BWV 2 or rousing the heavens in BWV 76's Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes. Similarly, there's likely never been a more affecting expression of the first chorus of BWV 135, Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, nor more touching, delicately pointed orchestral playing than in the Sinfonia of BWV 21.
As in most of this cantata series, the soloists are the potential weak links--not that they are bad, just that they have their "moments", both shaky and solid: Daniel Taylor sounds uncomfortable in his BWV 2 aria; soprano Lisa Larsson turns her dotted-rhythm articulation into a distracting mannerism in her BWV 76 aria; and tenor James Gilchrist manages to sing an entire aria (in BWV 76) with admirable energy but amazingly ambiguous pitch.
But these same singers, along with always-reliable bass Stephen Varcoe, also deliver some very fine work elsewhere, including the fiery soprano and bass arias from BWV 10, and the tenor recitative and beautiful alto/tenor duet from the same cantata (this last well done in spite of the soloists' having to fight against Gardiner's inexplicably slower and slower tempo).
Generally, the different set of soloists in the Disc 2 cantatas are more satisfying and vocally and musically consistent. Katharine Fuge really (and appropriately) pulls at your heart in her BWV 21 aria Seufzer, Tränen, Kummer, Not (Sighing, weeping, sorrow, care), and the tears are convincing in tenor Vernon Kirk's Bäche von gesalznen Zähren from the same work. The soprano/bass duet Komm, mein Jesu, has a delightful lighthearted quality and easy rapport between the singers that draws us eagerly in. And in the following chorus, the choir and orchestra perfectly convey Bach's remarkable musical depiction of the despairing spirit finding the way to hope and God's ultimate comfort.
There are two different venues involved here, and of the two, the church in Zürich (Disc 2) proves much more agreeable than the unforgiving space of the Basilique Saint-Denis in Paris. The latter is a magnificent structure and revered monument (final resting place for most of the kings and queens of France), but its qualities as a recording location are mostly of the kind that cause problems for recording engineers (who happen to have done a commendable job here!). And unfortunately, engineers aren't the only ones given problems in this ambitious recording project: Gardiner's crazy habit of altering tempos in the middle of movements--mostly slowing down for no apparent reason--must give producers fits! Fortunately these occurrences are relatively few and are not fatally disruptive--but you have to ask why Gardiner does this and why he's allowed to get away with it.
You may wonder why Heinrich Schütz makes an appearance on a Bach cantata program--or why a concerto for flute, violin, and harpsichord (albeit by Bach) are included. It's because the surviving works for these particular Sundays were not sufficient to fill out the two CDs--and we can appreciate that the producers wanted to give us (and their concert audiences) more rather than less. The Schütz motet, which was dedicated to the choir at St Thomas in Leipzig--Bach's future responsibility--and based on the same Psalm 19 text as Bach's later cantata BWV 76, is a more than fitting partner to the Bach work, with its solidly harmonious a cappella sections and assertive accompanied passages, highlighted by sonorous brass flourishes.
So, as we continue to travel with Gardiner's Bach entourage, wending our way through the dozens of cantatas, venues, and solo singers, we occasionally find something we can settle on as being worthy of Bach's genius and intent as a devoutly committed composer of church music. Here is one of those, respectfully recommended with the hope of more to come.

CD 1:
Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2
Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein (Chorus)
Recitative: Sie lehren eitel falsche List (Tenor)
Aria: Tilg, o Gott, die Lehren (Alto)
Recitative: Die Armen sind verstort (Bass)
Aria: Durchs Feuer wird das Silber rein (Tenor)
Chorale: Das wollst du, Gott, bewahren rein (Chorus)
Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10
Meine Seel erhebt den Herren (Chorus)
Aria: Herr, der du stark und machtig bist (Soprano)
Recitative: Des Hochsten Gut und Treu (Tenor)
Aria: Gewaltige stosst Gott vom Stuhl (Bass)
Duet and Chorale: Er denket der Barmherzigkeit (Alto, Tenor)
Recitative: Was Gott den Vatern alter Zeiten (Tenor)
Chorale: Lob un Preis sei Gott dem Vater und dem Sohn
Geistliche Chormusik, Op. 11: No. 18. Die Himmel erzahlen die Ehre Gottes, SWV 386
Die Himmel erzahlen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76
Die Himmel erzahlen die Ehre Gottes, und die (Bass, Chorus, Tenor, Soprano, Alto)
Recitative: So lasst sich Gott nicht unbezeuget! (Tenor)
Aria: Hort, ihr Volker, Gottes Stimme (Soprano)
Recitative: Wer aber hort (Bass)
Aria: Fahr hin, abgottische Zunft! (Bass)
Recitative: Du hast uns, Herr, von allen Strassen (Alto)
Chorale: Es woll uns Gott genadig sein (Chorus)
Sinfonia
Recitative: Gott segne noch die treue Schar (Bass)
Aria: Hasse nur, hasse mich recht (Tenor)
Recitative: Ich fuhle schon im Geist (Alto)
Aria: Liebt, ihr Christen, in der Tat! (Alto)
Recitative: So soll die Christenheit (Tenor)
Chorale: Es danke, Gott, und lobe dich (Chorus)

CD 2:
Ich hatte viel Bekummernis, BWV 21
Sinfonia
Ich hatte viel Bekummernis (Chorus)
Aria: Seufzer, Tranen, Kummer, Not (Soprano)
Recitative: Wie hast du dich, mein Gott (Tenor)
Aria: Bache von gesalznen Zahren (Tenor)
Was betrubst du dich, meine Seele (Chorus, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass)
Recitative: Ach Jesu, meine Ruh (Soprano, Bass)
Duet: Komm, mein Jesu, und erquicke (Soprano, Bass)
Sei nun wieder zufrieden, meine Seele (Chorus, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass)
Aria: Erfreue dich Seele, erfreue dich, Herze (Tenor)
Das Lamm, das erwurget ist (Chorus, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass)
Ach Herr, mich armen Sunder, BWV 135
Ach Herr, mich armen Sunder (Chorus)
Recitative: Ach heile mich, du Arzt der Seelen (Tenor)
Aria: Troste mir, Jesu, mein Gemute (Tenor)
Recitative: Ich bin von Seufzen mude (Alto)
Aria: Weicht, all ihr Ubeltater (Bass)
Chorale: Ehr sei ins Himmels Throne (Chorus)
Concerto for Harpsichord, Flute and Violin in A minor, BWV 1044
I. Allegro
II. Adagio ma non tanto e dolce
III. Alla breve

2010 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 2 SDG 165

You can buy it on Amazon.com
You can download here: CD One / CD Two

Gardiner BACH Cantatas Vol. 1

2011-11-13T15:25:00.001-06:00

On Christmas Day 1999 a unique celebration of the new Millennium began in the the Herderkirche in Weimar, Germany: the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists under the direction of Sir John Eliot Gardiner set out to perform all Johann Sebastian Bach’s surviving church cantatas in the course of the year 2000, the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death.
The cantatas were performed on the liturgical feasts for which they were composed, in a yearlong musical pilgrimage encompassing some of the most beautiful churches throughout Europe (including many where Bach himself performed) and culminating in three concerts in New York over the Christmas festivities at the end of the millennial year. These recordings were made during the course of the Pilgrimage.

When we embarked on the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in Weimar on Christmas Day 1999 we had no real sense of how the project would turn out.
There were no precedents, no earlier attempts to perform all Bach’s surviving church cantatas on the appointed feast day and all within a single year, for us to draw on or to guide us. Just as in planning to scale a mountain or cross an ocean, you can make meticulous provision, calculate your route and get all the equipment in order, in the end you have to deal with whatever the elements – both human and physical – throw at you at any given moment.
With weekly preparations leading to the performance of these extraordinary works, a working rhythm we sustained throughout a whole year, our approach was influenced by several factors: time (never enough), geography (the initial retracing of Bach’s footsteps in Thuringia and Saxony), architecture (the churches both great and small where we performed), the impact of one week’s music on the next and on the different permutations of players and singers joining and rejoining the pilgrimage, and, inevitably, the hazards of weather, travel and fatigue. Compromises were sometimes needed to accommodate the quirks of the liturgical year (Easter falling exceptionally late in 2000 meant that we ran out of liturgical slots for the late Trinity season cantatas, so that they needed to be redistributed among other programmes). Then to fit into a single evening cantatas for the same day composed by Bach over a forty-year span meant deciding on a single pitch (A = 415) for each programme, so that the early Weimar cantatas written at high organ pitch needed to be performed in the transposed version Bach adopted for their revival, real or putative, in Leipzig. Although we had commissioned a new edition of the cantatas by Reinhold Kubik, incorporating the latest source findings, we were still left with many practical decisions to make over instrumentation, pitch, bass figuration, voice types, underlay and so on. Nor did we have the luxury of repeated performances in which to try out various solutions: at the end of each feast-day we had to put the outgoing trio or quartet of cantatas to the back of our minds and move on to the next clutch – which came at us thick and fast at peak periods such as Whitsun, Christmas and Easter.
The recordings which make up this series were a corollary of the concerts, not their raison d’être. They are a faithful document of the pilgrimage, though never intended to be a definitive stylistic or musicological statement. Each of the concerts which we recorded was preceded by a ‘take’ of the final rehearsal in the empty church as a safety net against outside noise, loud coughs, accidents or meteorological disturbance during the performance.
But the music on these recordings is very much ‘live’ in the sense that it is a true reflection of what happened on the night, of how the performers reacted to the music (often brand new to them), and of how the church locations and the audiences affected our response. This series is a tribute to the astonishing musicality and talent of all the performers who took part, as well as, of course, to the genius of J.S.Bach. (John Eliot Gardiner)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
CD 1:
For the Feast of St John the Baptist
Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe BWV 167
1) 1. Aria: Tenor Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe
2) 2. Recitativo: Alto Gelobet sei der Herr Gott Israel
3) 3. Aria (Duetto): Soprano, Alto Gottes Wort, das trüget nicht
4) 4. Recitativo: Bass Des Weibes Samen kam
5) 5. Choral Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren
Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam BWV 7
6) 1. Coro Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam
7) 2. Aria: Bass Merkt und hört, ihr Menschenkinder
8) 3. Recitativo: Tenor Dies hat Gott klar
9) 4. Aria: Tenor Des Vaters Stimme ließ sich hören
10) 5. Recitativo: Bass Als Jesus dort nach seinen Leiden
11) 6. Aria: Alto Menschen, glaubt doch dieser Gnade
12) 7. Choral Das Aug allein das Wasser sieht
Freue dich, erlöste Schar BWV 30
Part I
13) 1. Coro Freue dich, erlöste Schar
14) 2. Recitativo: Bass Wir haben Rast
15) 3. Aria: Bass Gelobet sei Gott, gelobet sein Name
16) 4. Recitativo: Alto Der Herold kömmt und meldt den König an
17) 5. Aria: Alto Kommt, ihr angefochtnen Sünder
18) 6. Choral Eine Stimme läßt sich hören
Part II
19) 7. Recitativo: Bass So bist du denn, mein Heil, bedacht
20) 8. Aria: Bass Ich will nun hassen
21) 9. Recitativo: Soprano Und obwohl sonst der Unbestand
22) 10. Aria: Soprano Eilt, ihr Stunden, kommt herbei
23) 11. Recitativo: Tenor Geduld, der angenehme Tag
24) 12. Coro Freue dich, geheil’gte Schar
CD 2:
For the First Sunday after Trinity
Die Elenden sollen essen BWV 75
Part I
1) 1. Coro Die Elenden sollen essen
2) 2. Recitativo: BassWas hilft des Purpurs Majestät
3) 3. Aria: Tenor Mein Jesus soll mein Alles sein!
4) 4. Recitativo: Tenor Gott stürzet und erhöhet
5) 5. Aria: Soprano Ich nehme mein Leiden mit Freuden auf mich
6) 6. Recitativo: Soprano Indes schenkt Gott ein gut’ Gewissen
7) 7. ChoralWas Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
Part II
8) 8. Sinfonia
9) 9. Recitativo: Alto Nur eines kränkt
10) 10. Aria: Alto Jesus macht mich geistlich reich
11) 11. Recitativo: BassWer nur in Jesu bleibt
12) 12. Aria: Bass Mein Herze glaubt und liebt
13) 13. Recitativo: Tenor O Armut, der kein Reichtum gleicht!
14) 14. ChoralWas Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot BWV 39
Part I
15) 1. Coro Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot
16) 2. Recitativo: Bass Der reiche Gott wirft seinen Überfluss
17) 3. Aria: Alto Seinem Schöpfer noch auf Erden
Part II
18) 4. Aria: BassWohlzutun und mitzuteilen vergesset nicht
19) 5. Aria: Soprano Höchster, was ich habe
20) 6. Recitativo: Alto Wie soll ich dir, o Herr
21) 7. Choral Selig sind, die aus Erbarmen
O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort I BWV 20
Part I
22) 1. Coro (Choral) O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort
23) 2. Recitativo: Tenor Kein Unglück ist in aller Welt zu finden
24) 3. Aria: Tenor Ewigkeit, du machst mir bange
25) 4. Recitativo: Bass Gesetzt, es dau’rte der Verdammten Qual
26) 5. Aria: Bass Gott ist gerecht in seinen Werken
27) 6. Aria: Alto O Mensch, errette deine Seele
28) 7. Choral Solang ein Gott im Himmel lebt
Part II
29) 8. Aria: BassWacht auf, wacht auf, verloren Schafe
30) 9. Recitativo: Alto Verlass, o Mensch, die Wollust dieser Welt
31) 10. Aria (Duetto) Alto, Tenor O Menschenkind
32) 11. Choral O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort

The Monteverdi Choir
The English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner

2005 Monteverdi Productions Ltd
2 Compact Discs
Volume 1 SDG 101

You can buy it on Amazon.com
You can download here: Disc One / Disc Two
PASSWORD: elhenry.MusicIsTheKey

Lang Lang LISZT My Piano Hero

2011-11-08T20:30:00.000-06:00

If there were a prize for the most toe-curling CD cover, this new Liszt compilation would be in the running. It shows Lang Lang in a blissful trance, hands raised to receive Liszt’s spirit, while some spaghetti-like substance — possibly an ectoplasmic emanation from the dead composer — whirls around him.
It’s true that Lang Lang adores Liszt, and is actually playing his First Concerto at the Proms tonight. You’d think Liszt’s flamboyance would suit him to a T, and yet the strange thing about this CD is how very ordinary it is. To begin with, the choice of pieces is very pinched — there’s nothing of Liszt’s visionary grandeur or gift for scene painting, and some of the pieces are second or even third rate. Another problem is the horribly shiny and hard sound of the piano — which is odd, because no expense was spared in that regard. As the irritatingly hyperactive accompanying DVD tells us, two pianos were used, one of them flown all the way from New York to the studio in Berlin.
It’s this DVD that gives a clue as to why the CD is so completely lacking in spontaneity. At one point we hear the producer announce “Take 135”. Can it really be true that Lang Lang recorded the same thing 135 times? It certainly sounds as if he did. The flashy pieces such as La campanella glitter in sterile perfection, but only occasionally, as in the Ave Maria, do we hear anything like musicality.
The performance of the First Piano Concerto suffers from the opposite problem: an exasperatingly mannered quality and a surprisingly lumpy, unfocused sound from the Vienna Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev. It’s as if in their efforts to make the perfect Lang Lang/Liszt package, Sony have somehow forgotten about the music.

01. Romance “O pourquoi donc” in E Minor, S. 169
02. La campanella in G-Sharp Minor from Grandes études de Paganini, S 141/3
03. Consolation No. 3 in D-Flat Major, S. 172
04. Grand Galop chromatique in E-Flat Major, S. 219
05. Liebestraum No. 3 in A-Flat Major, S. 541/3
06. Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 in D-Flat Major, S. 244/6
07. Un sospiro in D-Flat Major from Trois études de concert, S. 144/3
08. Rakoczy March from Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15 in A Minor, S. 244/15
09. Ave Maria, S. 558
10. Theme and variations in A Minor from Grandes études de Paganini, S. 141/6 (Bonus Track)
11. Widmung, S. 566 (Bonus Track)
12. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, S. 124: I. Allegro maestoso
13. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, S. 124: II. Quasi adagio – Allegretto vivace – Allegro animato
14. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, S. 124: III. Allegro marziale animato
Lang Lang
Valery Gergiev
Vienna Philharmonic

2011 SONY Classical
1 CD DDD
G010002678926J

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Michele Marelli KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN Harlekin

2011-11-06T10:20:00.000-06:00

Harlekin (1975) is one of the best known and most appreciated of Karlheinz Stockhausen‘s works for the originality of its mise-en-scène and mode of composition: the clarinettist, in fact, plays, mimes and dances contemporaneously. Stockhausen developed the concept of the composition for Formulas already tried, in, among others, Mantra (1970) and Inori (1972). The Formula, the extreme evolution of the post-Webernian series, is a collection of notes, dynamics, rhythms and detailed phrasing connected, by close internal bonds balanced by precise mathematical calculations. Stockhausen’s Harlequin no longer possesses almost anything of the mask of the commedia dell’arte: the character that we see on stage does not express himself through the word but through music and body language. The pantomime, in its entirety, becomes an abstract representation of man’s life. The Formula of Harlekin consists of 13 sounds which evolve and are modified, in the space of 43 minutes, through seven sections, to which Stockhausen gives an exact title. Michele Marelli (1978) is internationally recognised as one of the finest contemporary musicians of his generation. He collaborated with Karlheinz Stockhausen for more than 10 years, giving premières under his conductorship and recording 2 CDs with the Maestro himself. He has been Winner of the Stockhausen Stiftung für Musik (six times) and numerous other international awards; he collaborates, as clarinet and basset horn soloist, with the Ensemble Stockhausen and is assistant to Suzanne Stephens at Stockhausen Kurse Kürten. Harlekin was the last work prepared with the Maestro before his passing.

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 - 2007)
1. Der Traumbote [5:49]
2. Der spielerische Konstrukteur [6:41]
3. Der verlebte Lyriker [3:22]
4. Der pedantische Lehrer [7:42]
5. Der spitzbübische Joker [3:40]
6. Der leidenschaftliche Tänzer [3:22]
7. Dialog mit einem Fuss [2:10]
8. Harlekin's Tanz [2:35]
9. Der exaltierte Kreiselgeist [7:24]

Michele Marelli, clarinetto e danza

2010 Stradivarius
1 CD DDD
STR 33864

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Hélène Grimaud - Mojca Erdmann - Kammerorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks MOZART

2011-11-05T06:45:00.000-06:00

The Adagio from the Piano Concerto in A major K. 488 is one of Mozart’s most magically inspired movements and for Hélène Grimaud it is possibly the most sublime movement that he ever wrote for the keyboard: “Even if this movement were all we had, that would be enough.” It must remain an open question whether Mozart regarded the key of F sharp minor – an extremely unusual one for him – in the same way as his contemporary Daniel Schubart, who defined it as “a dark key that tears at passion as a vicious dog tears at your clothing”. But even if there is no doubt that Mozart was repeatedly inclined to conceal his true feelings behind a mask, Hélène Grimaud is convinced that he did not do so here in this profound, inward and heartfelt movement.
Perhaps this explains why she allows herself so much time in this unique Adagio, which she plays more slowly than almost all of her other colleagues, even though she insists that she chose this tempo on the basis of her experience in the concert hall. “It happened to be so in that concert, with that acoustic. The return of the sound is what dictates when you play the next note; tempi are always connected with the venue. That said, a movement like this isn’t composed accidentally. Philosophically speaking, if you don’t go to the limit in this movement, when are you going to?” This does not alter the fact that she has an entirely clear and down-to-earth idea of Mozart. Concepts such as otherworldly, angelic music are highly suspect in her eyes: “Mozart was possessed. This idea that the music is from another world, from above, and that it’s the music of an angel is simply not the case. It’s very much the music of a man. If you read his letters, you don’t have to look very far to figure out what Mozart was about. This element of passion which gives sense to our existence is always there with him.”
In Hélène Grimaud’s view, Mozart may sometimes play with masks, but not in movements such as the Adagio from the A major Piano Concerto. Rather she identifies this mask-wearing Mozart in other passages that seem cheerful and relatively carefree: “I often feel that this effervescent, supposedly happy expression is sometimes bordering on hysteria, there’s something slightly unstable there.” She hears moments like these in the outer movements of the A major Concerto and in the finale of the F major Concerto K. 459. True, this movement is “very virtuosic, alive and effervescent. But this manic energy is almost an escape into a trance: it is not only joy, it is not only happiness.”
What makes Mozart’s music so special for Hélène Grimaud is its grace and utter weightlessness: “You have depth but without any sort of weight. That’s really what sets him apart from many others.” But this is precisely why it is not easy to strike the right note with Mozart. You have to play this music as you would in your childhood, when you could approach it in an altogether straightforward and self-evident way and everything flowed quite naturally: “It’s challenging to get back to this purity of expression.” The second movement of the F major Concerto is a fine example of this: “It is so disarming in its simplicity, but it has a couple of moments which are just arresting; for example, when it goes into the minor tonality it is absolutely breathtaking.”
Hélène Grimaud is always receptive to the unusual, and it was, of course, her idea to complement the two piano concertos from her Munich concert not with a third concerto but with Ch’io mi scordi di te? – Non temer, amato bene K. 505. This is a work that she has loved for many years: “It’s a gem, a wonderful piece. The part for soprano is just fantastic, the relationship between the soprano, the orchestra and the piano is just gorgeous. It’s like liquid gold, the piano’s interventions going from something to do with silk to something to do with lace. Again, there’s this wonderful weightlessness.”
There is no doubt that this is one of the most beautiful arias that Mozart ever wrote. The way he sets up a relationship between voice and piano and allows each to react to the other is unique in the whole of his output. One is almost tempted to hear in it a secret declaration of his love for Nancy Storace, his first Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and the singer for whom he wrote this scena and rondo. He himself played the keyboard at the first performance in 1787. Hélène Grimaud is disinclined to interpret it in such a directly autobiographical way: “A declaration of love with sounds instead of words. Of course there’s the text, which gives you a pretty clear indication of what’s going on, but for me it’s always secondary. The music has to shed light on its own structure and emotional content. If you stick to any sort of scenario and text, it in fact reduces the music. You can imagine all sorts of things: you can imagine that the piano is the male and the voice is the female – or in reverse. At the end, love still triumphs even amid this resignation. And even in that perspective of a broken heart, love is still stronger – so it’s a beautiful message above all.” (Oswald Beaujean)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)
Piano Concerto No.19 in F, K.459
Cadenzas: W.A. Mozart
1. 1. Allegro [11:58]
2. 2. Allegretto [7:59]
3. 3. Allegro assai - Cadenza: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [7:53]
Ch'io mi scordi di te... Non temer, amato bene, K.505
(Varesco)
4. Ch'io mi scordi di te? [1:53]
5. Non temer, amato bene [3:15]
6. Alme belle, che vedete [5:07]
Piano Concerto No.23 in A, K.488
1. Allegro
7. Cadenza: Ferruccio Busoni [10:42]
8. 2. Adagio [7:38]
9. 3. Allegro assai [7:56]

2011 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin

1 CD DDD

477 9455 4 GH

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Delphine Lizé Récital Salle Pleyel

2011-11-04T04:00:00.002-06:00

Born in 1979, Delphine Lizé had everything it took to ensure a resounding start to her career: two first prizes at the age of 13 at the Conservatoire National de Région in Nice (piano, in professor Odile Poisson’s class, and chamber music in Michel Lethiec’s class); a first prize in piano three years later at the Conservatoire National de Musique et de Danse in Paris, where she studied with Brigitte Engerer and Jacques Rouvier; and, in 1995, a nomination for the Victoires de la musique classique in the category Jeune Espoir (Young Hopeful). This faultless track record gained swift attention and rewards, in particular a concert during the Symphonew event, with the Orchestra of Cannes-Provence-Côte d’Azur, conducted by Philippe Bender.
But Delphine Lizé has taken the time to mature and, after meeting at a master-class the great Russian pianist and teacher Grigory Gruzman, she began to study with him at the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, where she is completing a performance degree. Having been remarked by such eminent pianists as Evgeni Koroliov, Abdel Rahman el Bacha and Elisso Virsaladze, in 2006 she won both the Steinway Award in Hamburg and the Masefield Foundation Award, which supports young artists in Germany.
Naturally it is in Germany that she began her career as concert performer, but although she gives many performances there she is also becoming a very popular in France – in 2006 she played at the Salle Gaveau and Salle Pleyel in Paris, at the Flâneries Festival in Reims and in Pau with the Orchestre de Pau-Pays de Béarn. She has also been discovered in the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, and Japan, where her performances are broadcast on the radio and acclaimed by the critics.
This young pianist from Nice is an active promoter of contemporary music and regularly includes in her repertoire works by composers such as Thierry Escaich, Éric Tanguy, Betsy Jolas, Luis de Pablo, Elmar Lampson and Wolfgang Andreas Schultz. At the same time she has thrown herself into musical theatre, taking on roles where she can use her skills as a pianist and an actress. She has premiered two plays: in 1999 Chopin-Musset, Show for a Salon with the actor Jean-Michel Dhermay, and in 2001 Ludwig van B. by Nathalie Fillion.
It was with this solid and patiently acquired background that Delphine Lizé’s went on to make her first recording with Intrada, of Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze and Fantasiestücke. For her second CD she has chosen works by her favourite composers – Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann and Prokofiev. This recording is a fine portrait of a varied and eclectic young artist, a reflection of her passionate and generous nature. (Intrada 2006)

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Arabesque en ut majeur, op. 18
1. Leicht und zart – Minore I : Etwas langsamer – Minore II: Etwas langsamer – Zum schluß (Coda) : Langsamer [8'40]
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Sonate pour piano n° 18, en mi bémol majeur, op. 31 n° 3
2. I. Allegro [9'29]
3. II. Scherzo : Allegretto vivace [5'24]
4. III. Menuetto : Moderato e grazioso – Trio – Menuetto da capo – Coda [4'22]
5. IV. Presto con fuoco [4'51]
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) Trois Sonnets de Pétrarque, extraits des Années de pèlerinage, Deuxième Année : Italie
6. I. Sonetto 47 del Petrarca [7'15]
7. II. Sonetto 104 del Petrarca [7'38]
8. III. Sonetto 123 del Petrarca [9'19]
Sergueï Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Sarcasmes, op. 17
9. I. Tempetoso [2'29]
10. II. Allegro rubato [1'56]
11. III. Allegro precipitato [2'10]
12. IV. Smanioso [2'45]
13. V. Precipitosissimo [3'56]
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
14. Valse n° 7, en ut dièse mineur, op. 64 n° 2 [3'51]

2006 Intrada
1 CD DDD
INTRA032

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Anne-Sophie Mutter - Alexis Weissenberg BRAHMS Violin Sonatas

2011-11-02T10:38:00.001-06:00

Brahms's violin sonatas--particularly No. 3--contain some of his most personal and expressive music. In fact, they make an excellent introduction to his chamber music in general, being of moderate length and much less fussy than, say, the string quartets. Mutter has become the premier German violinist of her generation, and as her superb recent performance of the Violin Concerto demonstrates, she certainly knows her Brahms. Weissenberg, on the other hand, is a controversial pianist--a brilliant intellectual who sometimes overpowers his music with an excess of vehemence. His partnership with Mutter works well though--the music can take a little extra juice here and there. (David Hurwitz)

Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Violin Sonata No. I, Op 78
1) I: Vivace ma non troppo [10:14]
2) II: Adagio [7:16]
3) III: Allegro molto moderato [7:41]
Violin Sonata No 2, Op. 100
4) I: Allegro amabile [7:30]
5) II: Andante tranquillo - Vivace [5:48]
6) III: Allegretto grazioso [4:55]
Violin Sonata No. 3, Op. 108
7) I: Allegro [7:17]
8) II: Adagio [4:18]
9) III: Un poco presto e con sentimento [2:39]
10) IV Presto agitato [4:59]

Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Alexis Weissenberg, piano

1983 EMI Records Ltd
1 CD DDD
5 74560 2

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VIVALDI Stabat Mater

2011-10-30T07:58:00.000-06:00

Conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini's historical-instrument recordings of Vivaldi and other Italian Baroque composers, originally recorded around the turn of the millennium for the Opus 111 label, are being reissued on Naïve, complete with the fashion-forward graphics for which that label is known. Any and all remain completely distinctive, but this all-Vivaldi disc makes perhaps the ideal place to start. It comes with a pretty substantial booklet essay (in French, English, and Italian, although the texts of the vocal pieces are only in Latin, English, and French) by Alessandrini himself, providing the historical background for his unorthodox readings; this is highly readable and touches on such subjects as visual art and theatrical history. Alessandrini's contention, in a nutshell, is that in Vivaldi's time, even in church and in instrumental music, the musical point of reference for an Italian audience was opera. His interpretations might be called hyper-dramatic, and the second good reason to choose this Alessandrini disc is that here he has a true vocal diva to help him realize his vision: contralto Sara Mingardo, whose presence in the Stabat Mater in F minor for contralto, strings, and continuo is stunning. Alessandrini often uses an organ continuo as a sort of extra string layer, adding syncopated stabs of emotion, and when he gets into step with Mingardo the effect is very powerful even in the absence of vocal fireworks; this is a stately Stabat Mater rather than a fiery one, even in the "Fac ut ardeat cor meum" verse. The entire program builds to this point, with a little-heard alto motet and an unusual trio of church-oriented concertos with a variety of unusual solo wind instruments. Arresting from the first stroke, this is a classic of Baroque music-making. (September 15, 2010 by James Manheim, Rovi)

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741)
Concerto per la solennità di S Lorenzo, for 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 recorders, 2 violins, bassoon, strings & continuo in C, RV 556
1) Largo - Allegro molto [5:00]
2) Largo e cantabile [3:03]
3) Allegro [3:51]
Clarae stellae, scintillate, solo motet for voice, strings & continuo in F major, RV 625
4) (Aria) Allegro [5:13]
5) Recitativo [0:43]
6) (Aria) Allegro [2:20]
7) (Alleluia) Allegro [2:39]
Concerto for violin & organ or violin ad lib & cello, strings & continuo in C major, RV 554a
8) (Allegro) [4:13]
9) (Largo) [3:50]
10) Allegro [3:32]
Concerto funebre, for violin, oboe, chalumeau, 3 violas all'inglese, strings & continuo in B flat major, RV 579
11) Largo [2:33]
12) Allegro poco [2:59]
13) Adagio - Allegro [2:21]
Stabat Mater, hymn for voice, strings & continuo in F minor, RV 621
14) Stabat Mater dolorosa. Largo [3:49]
15) Cujus animam gementem. Adagissimo [2:30]
16) O quam tristis. Andante [1:50]
17) Quis est homo. Largo [3:03]
18) Quis non posset. Adagissimo [2:55]
19) Pro peccatis suae gentis. Andante [1:50]
20) Eja Mater, fons amoris. Largo [3:23]
21) Fac ut ardeat cor meum. Lento [1:55]
22) Amen [1:16]
Sonata à 4 al Santo Sepolcro, for 2 violins, viola & continuo in E flat major, RV 130
23) Largo molto [3:27]
24) Allegro ma poco [2:15]

Rinaldo Alessandrini (Conductor)
Concerto Italiano
Paolo Ciociola (Violin)
Francesca Vicari (Violin)
Sara Mingardo (Contralto)
Antonio De Secondi (Violin)
Luigi Piovano (Violoncello)
Andrea Mion (Oboe)
Luca Cola (Double Bass)
Ettore Belli (Viola)
Mauro Lopes Ferreira (Violin)

1999 Opus 111
2002 NAÏVE
1 CD DDD
OP 30367

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