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Bach Cantatas Vol. 19 (CD):
Cantatas for the Second Sunday after Epiphany
Cantatas for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner
Performers:
CD1
· Joanne Lunn (soprano)
· Richard Wyn Roberts (alto)
· Julian Podger (tenor)
· Gerald Finley (bass)
· The Monteverdi Choir
· English Baroque Soloists
CD2:
· Joanne Lunn, Katharine Fuge (sopranos); William Towers (alto); Paul Agnew (tenor); Peter Harvey (bass); The Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists.
Recorded:.
· Old Royal Naval Chapel, Greenwich, 16-17 January 2000
· CD2 - Romsey Abbey, Hampshire,30 January 2000
Released: April 11, 2006
Number of Discs: 2
Label: Soli Deo Gloria
ASIN: B000E1P3AW
Track Listings
CD1: Cantatas for the Second Sunday after Epiphany
Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? BWV155
Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid I, BWV3
Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen, BWV13
CD2: Cantatas for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig, BWV26
(For the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity)
Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen? BWV81
Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit, BWV14
Motet: Jesu, meine Freude, BWV227
What the critics say
John Quinn for Musicweb.com [extract]
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Jun06/bach_sdg115_18.htm
…I can say immediately that the high standards of performance have been maintained in these latest issues [Vol 19 and 21], as has the fine quality of Gardiner’s perceptive and fascinating booklet notes from which, as before, I shall quote in this review.
Volume 19
The concerts at Greenwich in mid January 2000 were the first given in the UK as part of the Pilgrimage. Prior to this all the venues had been in Germany. Greenwich played host for a selection of cantatas for the Second Sunday after Epiphany. Scarcely, it seems, has the great festival of Christmas passed when the mood of the Lutheran liturgy once again includes a vein of penitence – though in fact reminders of man’s sinfulness are present even in Bach’s cantatas for Christmastide. As Gardiner observes of the cantatas for this particular Sunday, their texts “inscribe a path from mourning to consolation.”
Joanne Lunn is very affecting in the aching recitativo with which begins Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? BWV 155. She represents the penitent Christian soul who is then encouraged in her faith by the alto and tenor soloists, who combine in ‘Du must glauben, du must hoffen’ with its perky bassoon obbligato. Miss Lunn has another aria, ‘Wirf, mein Herze, wirf dich noch’, in which the soul is enjoined “throw yourself” into Christ’s loving arms. She obeys this injunction in her singing and the aria trips along eagerly.
At the start of Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid I, BWV 3 the mood is once again one of affliction, this time conveyed by the chorus. There’s a crucial role here for the oboes d’amore. These help establish the air of melancholy in the substantial instrumental introduction and thereafter weave in and out of the choral texture. It’s a powerful movement and it’s performed arrestingly here. The bass aria, ‘Empfind ich Höllenangst und Pein’ is “an uncomfortable, tortuous ride for both cello and singer.” Suffice to say that both acquit themselves with distinction. Gerald Finley is very accurate in his divisions, nowhere more so than in the long, recurring phrase, ‘ein rechter Freudenhimmel sein’. Throughout this aria he makes good sense of what can be difficult musical syntax. I love Eliot Gardiner’s almost throwaway description of the soprano/alto duet, ’Wenn Sorgen auf mich dringen’. He dubs it “Bach’s equivalent of Singin’ in the Rain.” What a marvellous comparison – and how apt! But if you think for a minute that he’s being flippant read what he has to say about the cruciform symbolism of the music in this aria, which reminds us that these are the thoughts, both serious and light-hearted, of someone who really knows his Bach and has thought long and hard about the music.
The tenor aria with which begins Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen, BWV 13 is eloquently delivered by Julian Podger. The marvellous combined sonority of an oboe da caccia and two recorders provides a most effective accompaniment. But even the invention and emotional range of that aria is dwarfed by the bass aria, ‘Ächzen und erbärmlich Weinen.’ Gardiner takes this very broadly – the performance lasts for over ten minutes – but sustains the musical line excellently. The accompaniment is founded on an implacably treading bass line over which we hear a plaintive unison from a solo violin and the recorders. Against this the bass soloist projects a deeply melancholic line. Finley sings with great feeling and inwardness, displaying amazing control and concentration. His success in putting the music across so profoundly is all the more remarkable when we read that he was a late replacement as soloist in this concert. All concerned give a spellbinding performance of the aria, which sets the seal on a very fine account of the entire cantata…
…As I’m sure is evident from my comments, both these volumes [with Vol 21] maintain the very high standards set by previous issues in this series. The recorded sound is consistently excellent and, as before, Sir John’s notes are a consistent source of illumination. Collectors who are acquiring the series as it unfolds should certainly invest in these issues as well. Any Bach lover who has yet to experience the Cantata Pilgrimage should hasten to rectify the omission and either of these volumes would make an excellent starting point. This is turning out to be an important and distinguished series and I recommend these latest issues very strongly…
Steven Plank for Opera Today, 25 Aug 2006
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2006/08/bach_cantatas_v_6.php
This installment of the estimable Bach Cantata Pilgrimage recordings brings together cantatas from the middle of the Epiphany season, along with a “refugee” from Trinity XXIV), and the well-known motet, “Jesu, meine Freude.”As in other volumes, the forces of the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists under the direction of John Eliot Gardiner offer renditions that are technically, stylistically, and interpretatively benchmark performances.
That said, there are issues here and there about which one might quibble. Chief among them is a tendency in highly energetic sections to allow zeal and fervor too free a hand. As a result, articulations can seem, on occasion, exaggeratedly aggressive, even pecky, as in the opening chorus to “Ach wie flüchtig,” BWV 26 or the penultimate verse of “Jesu meine Freude.” Rhythmic verve is a signature trait of Gardiner’s interpretations and is often thrilling—the extraordinary storm aria of “Jesus schläft,” BWV 81 is a splendidly red-blooded example—but the line separating thrilling and “over-the-top” is not always easily judged.
Sometimes, too, the attempt to heighten the text with rhetorical delivery can seem exaggerated and mannered, especially in chorales. Satan’s storming and the raging of the foe in “Jesus meine Freude” (mvt. III) finds the choir arguably too dramatic for this straight-forward context. Sometimes it seems well to let a chorale be “only a chorale.”
However, how much remains that is superb! Soprano Joanne Lunn’s singing in “Mein Gott, wie lang?” BWV 155 is exquisite, with wonderfully clear timbres in the high register. Bass Gerald Finley is outstanding in “Empfind ich Höllenangst und Pein” from “Ach Gott wie manches Herzeleid,” BWV 3. His sound is rich, though well focused, and its forward placement and leanness allows his voice to move with clarity and flexibility. The text of the aria contrasts fear and pain with heavenly joy—challenging melodic contours for the former, decorative melisma for the latter—and Finley negotiates the whole affective range with ease.
In the liner notes to the recording Gardiner observes that in “Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid” “Bach reserves his most winning music” for the duet, “Wenn Sorgen auf mich dringen.” We would have immediately reached this conclusion with or without the tip! The buoyant uplift of the rising intervals is memorable, especially when teamed with elegant articulation and expressive decay on long notes, a characteristic care in the details. This is particularly evident in the bass aria “Ächzen und erbärmlich Weinen” from “Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen,” BWV 13. The aria is devoted to groaning and weeping, and Gardiner responds with a mannered degree of slowness in his tempo. The extreme slowness is something of an interpretative gamble, as it raises the risk of tedium, and challenges the performers’ control. However, the degree of nuance by soloist, violin, and recorder keeps the ear closely attuned, and the result is an unusually textured essay on sorrow.
The attention to detail marks these performances as singular, and that attention to detail seems all the more impressive in the circumstances of the Cantata Pilgrimage—a year of new cantatas every week in different venues. This volume, like its companions, thus documents not only the wealth of Bach’s output, but also the rich resources of seasoned historical performers and their inspired leader.