The Heart's Refuge
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johann Kuhnau, Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Johann Christoph Bach, Nicolaus Bruhns
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Analekta
Magazine Review Date: 02/2015
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 49
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: AN2 9143
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Jesu, meines Lebens Leben |
Dietrich Buxtehude, Composer
Agnes Zsigovics, Soprano Alexander Dobson, Bass Daniel Taylor, Conductor Dietrich Buxtehude, Composer Isaiah Bell, Tenor Kyle Guilfoyle, Countertenor Rebecca Claborn, Mezzo soprano Schola Cantorum Theatre of Early Music |
Es ist nun aus |
Johann Christoph Bach, Composer
Agnes Zsigovics, Soprano Alexander Dobson, Bass Daniel Taylor, Conductor Isaiah Bell, Tenor Johann Christoph Bach, Composer Kyle Guilfoyle, Countertenor Rebecca Claborn, Mezzo soprano Schola Cantorum Theatre of Early Music |
Harmonia a 5 |
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Composer
Agnes Zsigovics, Soprano Alexander Dobson, Bass Daniel Taylor, Conductor Isaiah Bell, Tenor Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Composer Kyle Guilfoyle, Countertenor Rebecca Claborn, Mezzo soprano Schola Cantorum Theatre of Early Music |
Gott, sei mir gnädig nach deiner Güte |
Johann Kuhnau, Composer
Agnes Zsigovics, Soprano Alexander Dobson, Bass Daniel Taylor, Conductor Isaiah Bell, Tenor Johann Kuhnau, Composer Kyle Guilfoyle, Countertenor Rebecca Claborn, Mezzo soprano Schola Cantorum Theatre of Early Music |
Ich liege und schlaffe |
Nicolaus Bruhns, Composer
Agnes Zsigovics, Soprano Alexander Dobson, Bass Daniel Taylor, Conductor Isaiah Bell, Tenor Kyle Guilfoyle, Countertenor Nicolaus Bruhns, Composer Rebecca Claborn, Mezzo soprano Schola Cantorum Theatre of Early Music |
Author: Lindsay Kemp
One is certainly free to wish it so anyway, and these performances by the University of Toronto’s Schola Cantorum choir, conducted by Daniel Taylor and reinforced by singers and players from his professional group Theater of Early Music, make it that little bit easier. Dripping with beauty and style, they establish their seriousness of intent from the off – Buxtehude’s choral passacaglia meditating on Christ’s sacrifice – and continue it through Johann Christoph Bach’s aching strophic choral death aria, Schmelzer’s chromatically intricate instrumental piece, and two more diverse and sectional cantata-like works in a German Miserere by Kuhnau and a contemplation of death by Bruhns.
The choir shows its youth in a light and pleasing choral sound, though also some intonational insecurity and a certain measure of carefulness which can sap the performances’ energy and brightness, and produces few standout moments. Compare the earnest Es ist nun aus here with the exquisite, fervently detailed account under John Eliot Gardiner on SDG, and you’ll get an idea of what is really possible. Likewise the soloists, though competent and promising, cannot completely hide their inexperience next to the impressive contribution of guest bass Alexander Dobson. But still, this snapshot of 17th-century German sacred music, if rather short at 49 minutes, is a heartwarming and worthy one.
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