I was unashamedly excited in my Quarterly Retrospect (3/94) at the prospect of hearing four more volumes of Richter's cantata recordings following the admirable Advent set. These two subsequent reissues contain a total of 28 cantatas for the Easter, Whitsun, Ascension and early Trinity Sundays and cover an extraordinary range of compositional styles and affective writing. Indeed one wonders on which criteria Richter—whose responsibility it was to choose a cantata for each Sunday of the church calendar for recording with Archiv—selected works for this significant project. It would be churlish to question the omission of pieces in which one imagines Richter would have excelled (at the expense of a handful which evidently, when it came to it, the Munich Kapellmeister was not able to project effectively) since this is largely a matter of taste and moreover completely academic as he is no longer with us to explain his reasoning.
Overall, it is fair to say that these two volumes do not rise as frequently to the heights of either the Advent box or the forthcoming double Trinity collection which makes up the full quota of five volumes. There is, however, much to cherish. In the Easter volume, BWV1 (strictly a cantata for the feast of the Annunciation though it nearly always falls during Lent) stands out like a beacon exemplifying those admirable traits which one associates with Richer at his best: dignified composure, affirmations of an intractable faith and a power to elevate the text with intense lyricism and clearly proclaimed authority drawn, unusually for these days, from an unselfconscious and full gamut of expressive regions. The opening chorus is a radiant example of superbly integrated obbligato performance especially from the violinist Otto Buchner and Hermann Baumann, the first horn. Each is left to encircle the chorale liberally whilst the Munich Bach Choir (in its heyday during the late 1950s and 1960s) demonstrate a happy blend of forthright projection and prudent accentuation in an enlightened response to Nicolai's famous hymn How brightly shines the Morning Star. The rest of the cantata benefits from the type of crisp treatment of arias afforded by Richter in his earlier years, which later too often became suppressed by an inappropriately Gothic and turgid sentimentalism. Haefliger was still just about on song here before he gave way to Peter Schreier for the majority of the project.
It would be dangerous to suppose, however, that all the best performances had happened by the time DG had given Richter a framework for recording his self-designed cycle in 1971, though it is hard to ignore the trend of consistently lucid and fresh interpretations which prevailed in those earlier years. There is much of the classic Richter to admire in the Cantata for Palm Sunday, BWV182, recorded in 1974-5, whilst Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV4) from 1968 one feels never quite fulfils its potential as one of the Richter 'greats'. The majority of cantatas here, however, are rarely satisfying as a whole. There are moments of great beauty in BWV104 (something of Richter's priceless gleam is certainly present here) and BWV67 and 108 (both stunning works and in truth even better captured in Richter's outstanding Das Alte Werk release of 1958, 5/93) but the Easter performances probably represent the least memorable accounts in the series: too often one encounters an almost deliberate lack of definition through ponderous accentuation and over-ornate continuo realizations, possibly all in an attempt to aggrandize his vision and perception of Bach's remarkable choral oeuvre.
Vol. 3 has more of the lean and free-breathing Richter of indefatigable energy and irresistible perspicacity which we notice in the best of the Advent set. The Ascension Oratorio (BWV11) and O ewiges Feuer (BWV34) are both notable for their crisp and effective choruses whilst the latter boasts Anna Reynolds at her best in ''Wohl euch'', an aria in the Elysian sommeil mould which is delectably phrased and paced. Of the 15 cantatas here, the final ten were all written for the first quarter of the Trinity marathon (continued in the last two volumes) and this is where we find the greatest consistency from movement to movement, leading in one or two cases to classic performances which have rarely been bettered. Neither Brich dem Hungrigen (BWV39), Herz und Mund (BWV147) nor Freue dich, erloste Schar (BWV30) is flawless by any means but the choral buoyancy, deft dialogues between exceptional obbligato contributions (and in the latter, wonderful string playing) and on-form soloists are a joy to behold whilst Ich hatte viel Bekummernis (BWV21) carries its burdens with an expressive eloquence which only Philippe Herreweghe has truly achieved since. This account is the pick of the current bunch for me and not simply because it is one of Bach's most extraordinary creations. Richter has the full measure of its broad design and the work's mesmeric symbolism is meat and drink to him. There is something of passion-like drama here in the intimate narrative of Bach's setting, not least in the near-operatic (or certainly oratorian) dialogue between Christ and the Soul, which Edith Mathis and Fischer-Dieskau share in a moving exchange. The final chorus is thrilling, with Richter communicating a muscularity and fervour for Bach's granite-formed fugue which leaves his competitors firmly in the wings.
Summing up on such a rich and varied body of music is largely fatuous though Vol. 2 is perhaps best reserved for Richter admirers able to take the rough with the smooth. The third, on the other hand, contains too many performances of significant Bachian insight (if few cantatas which entirely satisfy from start to finish) not to recommend it highly to a broader body of listeners who relish red-blooded and committed music-making. Taken as a whole, only Fritz Werner's heritage (over 50 cantatas in Erato's back-catalogue) rivals that of Richter in terms of scope and quality. Please release these jewels! Meanwhile, roll on Trinity.'