Bach New Year's Day Cantatas
Some stirring readings from Ton Koopman in three repackaged releases
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Challenge Classics
Magazine Review Date: 0/0
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
Catalogue Number: CC72296

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Cantata No. 171, 'Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Amsterdam Baroque Choir Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Bogna Bartosz, Contralto (Female alto) Christoph Prégardien, Tenor Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Klaus Mertens, Bass Sandrine Piau, Soprano Ton Koopman, Conductor |
Cantata No. 41, 'Jesu, nun sei gepreiset' |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Amsterdam Baroque Choir Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Annette Markert, Contralto (Female alto) Christoph Prégardien, Tenor Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Klaus Mertens, Bass Sibylla Rubens, Soprano Ton Koopman, Conductor |
Cantata No. 28, 'Gottlob! nun geht das Jahr zu E |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Amsterdam Baroque Choir Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Bogna Bartosz, Contralto (Female alto) Deborah York, Soprano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Jürg Dürmüller, Tenor Klaus Mertens, Bass Ton Koopman, Conductor |
Cantata No. 16, 'Herr Gott, dich loben wir' |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Amsterdam Baroque Choir Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Bogna Bartosz, Contralto (Female alto) Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Klaus Mertens, Bass Paul Agnew, Tenor Ton Koopman, Conductor |
Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Challenge Classics
Magazine Review Date: 0/0
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
Catalogue Number: CC72290

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Cantata No. 172, 'Erschallet, ihr Lieder' |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Amsterdam Baroque Choir Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Barbara Schlick, Soprano Christoph Prégardien, Tenor Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Kai Wessel, Alto Klaus Mertens, Bass Ton Koopman, Conductor |
Cantata No. 68, 'Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt' |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Amsterdam Baroque Choir Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Deborah York, Soprano Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Klaus Mertens, Bass Ton Koopman, Conductor |
Cantata No. 174, 'Ich liebe den Höchsten von gan |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Amsterdam Baroque Choir Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Bogna Bartosz, Contralto (Female alto) Christoph Prégardien, Tenor Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Klaus Mertens, Bass Ton Koopman, Conductor |
Cantata No. 175, 'Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Name |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Amsterdam Baroque Choir Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Bogna Bartosz, Contralto (Female alto) Christoph Prégardien, Tenor Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Klaus Mertens, Bass Ton Koopman, Conductor |
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Challenge Classics
Magazine Review Date: 0/0
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: CC72287

Author: Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
These “themed” reissues (an “Ascension” disc has already appeared – 9/08) provide an imaginative means of establishing key performances in an attractive format; not every Bach lover will want every last note and there is much to be said for collating works from across the cycles and relishing the composer’s exhaustive response to seasonal characteristics – be they the extroversion of Town Council Elections, the cathartic New Year or the special high days of Whitsun.
These mostly grandiloquent works remind us of the most telling features of this inconsistently satisfying series. The Town Council Election cantatas (three of the extant examples) contain all the irresistible instrumental flair of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, with their luxuriant textures reflecting a demonstrable municipal presence in Leipzig. Much is written about the virtuoso work of the Monteverdi Choir in Gardiner’s Pilgrimage releases but these three discs celebrate the Amsterdam Baroque Choir’s particularly glowing and cultivated core with a thrilling edge, as in the movements from BWV120 and BWV171 which Bach reworked for the Mass in B minor. The Whitsun Cantatas are especially fine, not least an exceptionally poetic performance of Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, BWV68, yet the stile antico radiance of the chorus of BWV28 is perhaps even more wonderfully poised.
Enlightened lyricism is not always Koopman’s strongest suit, and solo arias often say rather less than the consolidated ensemble. If, therefore, the solo numbers are a little hit-and-miss, there is still much to admire: a ravishing “Heil und Segen” from Sandrine Piau in BWV120, Klaus Mertens’s suitably windswept “Heiligste Dreieinigkeit” and Deborah York’s characterful singing in “Mein glaubiges” in BWV68 (she also shines brilliantly in the opening of BWV28).
As I said in my original review (3/04), this perennial favourite finds more durable readings from Agnes Giebel for Fritz Werner and Arleen Augér for Helmuth Rilling; but overall these attractively compiled discs encourage listeners to revisit Koopman’s cantatas in a new light. The impression, on this evidence, is that the best material stands out brighter than ever.
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