Leading countertenors of their generation have understandably felt compelled to record at least two of the four solo alto cantatas by Bach, especially those which best suit the respective voice-type. I first heard Damien Guillon on a recent recording of secular cantatas from Masaaki Suzuki and was struck by the unusual focus, lack of vanity and intensity of the sound.

Choosing Vergnügte Ruh shows off such qualities in abundance. Unlike the internalised poetics of Gérard Lesne (in his pomp) or Andreas Scholl’s suavity across all registers, Guillon reveals a Deller-esque intimacy in his approach and production, one of bell-like purity, sailing at the top with enticing honey notes in the lower reaches.

The greatest challenge in BWV170 (composed as part of a mini-series in 1726 of works with obbligato organ – where one imagines Bach was the keyboard soloist) comes in the treacherous ‘Wie jammern’, a true ‘scena’ of a kind where Bach returns to his forebears, eking out every rhetorical pip from a text. Where did such an unsettling aria come from? F sharp minor with no continuo line but empty unison strings, searing dissonance, disquieting chromatics and angular cries, all representing ‘satanic scheming’ and ‘a thousand torments’ as graphically and pitifully as Bach ever achieved.

Occasionally tempted to over-project and force his sound, Guillon is principally a sensitive chamber musician of a high order. He sits intelligently as primus inter pares, accepting that these unusually idiosyncratic organ parts represent more than mere accompaniment. The gritty portrayal of the sinner’s visceral wish to have his life taken at the close of BWV170, in a sensational performance of the final aria, is one of several examples where Maude Gratton’s fruity organ registrations add new dimensions – all carried forwards in a hypnotic performance of the D minor Trio Sonata.

Gratton’s concentrated and lucid playing, around the agreeably tanned strings and oboes of Le Banquet Céleste, determines the landscape for the fine Trinity cantata Geist und Seele. Guillon again delivers from within the solar plexus of the ensemble. Such an intimate and congenial approach affords this fine chamber cantata tactile immediacy and generosity of spirit. A most gratifying new view of these super-refined creations.