Bach Collegium Japan adds an 11th volume to its excellent series of Bach's sacred cantatas. The musical strengths of the four early Leipzig cantatas on this disc are Herculean and, in most respects, this talented ensemble of singers and players measures up to them. Taken together, the pieces offer a conspectus of the prodigiously varied expressive range of which Bach was capable, a range which is further enhanced by instances of strikingly vivid word and image painting.
The group of Trinity cantatas begins with No 136, whose opening A major choral fugue, an invigorating dance in 12/8 rhythm, is given additional brilliance by a prominent horn part. Deeply penitential, on the other hand, is the D minor chorus which introduces No 46. Bach valued both pieces highly, reworking the first into his Lutheran A major Mass (BWV234), and the first part of the second into the 'Qui tollis' of the B minor Mass. The masterly and complex construction of the choruses which begin Nos 95 and 138 is different yet again. The for-mer is full of inner tensions, a conflict between faith and doubt, and is an unusual dovetailing of recitative, arioso and chorus declaimed against frequently contrasting instrumental textures. The other also incorporates recitative, but further makes use of two different hymns and their melodies in an experimental, highly original manner. Choir and instruments acquit themselves with real distinction in each of these substantial movements. Rival versions of Nos 95 and 136 may have the edge on these in matters of refinement, but they lack the instrumental brilliance and declamatory fervour of Suzuki's musicians.
The soloists, by and large, make up a strong team. Midori Suzuki's voice is one that holds great appeal for me, even though on previous occasions her technique has been overstretched. Not so here, as can be heard in her beautifully controlled and measured solo singing of the chorale 'Valet will ich dir geben' with its playful unison oboes d'amore (No 95). But Bach's demands upon her are as nothing compared with those which he imposes on the tenor in the relentlessly high-register aria of the same work. Makoto Sakurada manages it pretty well, with only a fleeting hint of strain in his lyrical, beautifully articulated performance. Peter Kooy is assured and expressive as ever, and Kai Wessel, whose singing I have not always enjoyed, gives a fine account of his extended arias in Nos 46 and 136. In short, a first-rate issue all round.'