This new disc from Joshua Rifkin and his Bach Ensemble is the sixth in a series which has its ups and downs but which, at its strongest (Nos. 8, 78 and 99 on (CD) 421 728-2OH, 10/89) illuminates Bach's music with a gentle radiance and a clarity seldom found among its rivals. It is hardly necessary, perhaps, to draw readers' attention to the fact that Rifkin performs this music more or less one to a part chorally and instrumentally, but that anyone seeking a large body of sound such as that favoured by Helmuth Rilling, the late Karl Richter and most of their predecessors will do well to look elsewhere than here.
The three cantatas on this disc are for solo bass voice with an additional concluding four-voice chorale in two of them. Ich habe genug and Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen are among Bach's best-known cantatas while the other, shorter and captivating from start to finish, Der Friede sei mit dir, may be less familiar to all but specialists in the field. The bass, Jan Opalach has appeared in all but one disc in the series and, for the most part, I have found his contributions musically thoughtful and expressive in their declamation. His performances here are no exception though I felt that the opening aria of No. 56 took a while to settle into a comfortable shape, rhythmically and articulately. There are weak moments of ensemble too, and occasional passages where the otherwise excellent first oboe player, Stephen Hammer—he has a heavy task to perform in both Nos. 56 and 82—sounds under strain, but these are very much exceptions in readings which are delicately shaded and governed by well-judged tempos. Happily, in the case of Ich habe genug, of which Bach left several versions differing from one another in significant respects, Rifkin opts for that which the composer used for his last known performance in the late 1740s. Happily, because in the sublime lullaby, ''Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen'' Bach reinforced the first violin part with an oboe da caccia—an inspired, deeply affecting master-stroke. Players and singers alike respond to this timeless music, not always with finesse but seldom without feeling.
The remaining cantata, No. 158, comes over well. Here the bass is joined in a beautiful Aria with Chorale by the soprano, Laurie Monahan. She is a newcomer to Rifkin's series with a steady voice of bell-like clarity. In summary, a satisfying disc, not without its weak moments but, on balance among the most convincing versions of Ich habe genug currently available. It might well be my first choice.'