Battle and Perlman together in Bach sounds like a recipe for no uncertain sweetness and much stained-glass light. Prospective buyers are likely, though, to choose their purchase in this case as much, as it were, for the singer as for the song, so they will have a shrewd idea what to expect.
Among those expectations will be a decidedly virtuoso approach to the obbligato writing, and a doe-like purity of vocal inflexion. For Cantata No. 97's ''Ich traue seiner Gnaden'', Battle certainly also puts her trust in the soloist, whose little opening concerto paves the way for a gentle, effortless unfurling of the vocal line. The violin's pointed answers make it not only the equal of the voice in eloquence, but also set up quite a few demands for the voice in turn; and Battle's top register is not always a match for the bow's tip.
In a ''Laudamus te'' (B minor Mass) of springing tempo, Battle has a tendency to over-push verbal rhythm to counterbalance the sturdy tread of the continuo. This self-preservation surfaces, too, in the extract from Cantata No. 202: these are sharp gusts of Fruhlingsluft indeed.
Not surprisingly, both Battle and Perlman are at their best in those arias which inhabit clearly recognizable expressive poles. In duet with an orchestral cello, Perlman provides a sombre prelude for Cantata No. 115's Passion-like ''Bete aber auch dabei'', to which Battle responds in suitably muted voice, and with a fitting sense of the long vision of the soul's self-preparation.
In the fiercely energetic ''Jesus soll mein erstes Wort'' from Cantata No. 171, on the other hand, Perlman rises splendidly to the ascending arpeggios and sequences, the cadential twists and turns of his dance, while the voice, making the most of the implicit ''Wort/Fort'' aural pun, sings with a new clarity and assurance which almost recalls the young Elly Ameling.
The oboe steps out of an always judiciously balanced and sprightly orchestral ensemble for Cantata No. 84's exuberant ''Ich esse mit Freuden'', and the trumpet sounds robustly, providing firm foundation for the vocal and instrumental pirouetting in Cantata No. 105.'