Suzuki’s gradual but assured journey through the complete Bach cantatas continues with the micro-series of works composed in Weimar between 1708 and 1717, the majority of which were written for performances at the castle chapel. That we have so many fine cantatas from this period is indeed thanks to the reigning duke’s diktat that upon Bach’s promotion to Kapellmeister in March 1714 he perform new works each month in the so-called ‘Himmelsburg’ chapel. Three of the cantatas here are works written for Advent and Christmas for 1714 and 1715 whilst Erschallet (No. 172) is a Pentecost cantata also from late on in Bach’s tenure at Weimar. Christen, atzet diesen Tag is both a resplendent and tender work, which juxtaposes grand, balletic framing choruses with closely-knit, reflective and limpid arias. It has received several fine performances on record over the years (including Richter and Koopman) but surely none so delectably paced and naturally argued as this. If one could quibble with very occasional slips in wind intonation, the choruses here succumb delightfully, in the first of Bach’s Christmas Day cantatas, to a placed gravitas in the articulation, simultaneously elevated by a focused choral sound; the words joyfully spin and leap out of this articulate ensemble, both here and in the equally thrilling opening movement of No. 172.
As NA observed in January when reviewing Vol. 5, the soloists in this series seem to go from strength to strength, and none more so than Yoshikazu Mera, whose countertenor voice displays a remarkable, shimmering beauty in the accompanied recitative of No. 63 and whose impressive control in “Christi Glieder”, from No. 132, is little like anything we have heard from him so far. If Peter Kooy is a known quantity and acts as something of an eminence grise, he lightly and gracefully paves the way for the poised Ingrid Schmithusen (she negotiates the high-pitched “Bereitet die Wege” from No. 132 with unequivocal vitality) in the first of her two duets; the second in No. 172, “Komm, lass mich” is a chorale-aria on Veni Creator which reveals the level of commitment and attention to detail which Suzuki derives from his singers. Some may find the well-known first version of Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (No. 61) a touch lacking in human foreboding (despite a strong line in Advent-tide anticipation) but, as we have observed before, Suzuki is never less than unself-regarding in his approach, one where absence of mannerism and a freshness of enquiry (which belies deep understanding of each work), presents the listener with new ‘texts’ of rare thoughtfulness, serenity and sureness of touch.
This is another hugely rewarding disc from the Bach Collegium Japan which, apart from some careless documented listings, can only be described as a triumph.'