The Covid-19 pandemic triggered great suffering throughout the world, which provoked questions amongst artists sensitive to and invested in global affairs. This spirit of reflection incited the soprano Sarah Traubel to conceive her album De Profundis. The album testifies to a state of abandonment without salvation in a way that is both profane and sacred.Her programme almost serves as a description of the evolution of Western music; Bach’s music mirrored with atonal works of the Second Viennese School. The austerity of the project seems to represent a call for help through which one glimpses a message of hope.This small instrumental ensemble was formed for the occasion, in collaboration with the countertenor Andreas Schol. The theme of the programme shouldn’t be considered at the level of the works themselves. Instead, consider what these excerpts from Bach’s cantatas, passions and oratorios, whose influence can also be heard in 20th-century pieces by Berg, Schönberg and Penderecki, can teach us. ©François Hudry/Qobuz

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With this set of 12 cantatas, a few of them quite short, Dutch historical-instrument conductor Ton Koopman approaches the end of his monumental traversal of the complete Bach cantata corpus. The cantatas here mostly date from the last two decades of Bach's life. By this time Bach had cantatas from earlier cycles ready for most occasions pertaining to the liturgical year. Several of the works here were written for special occasions -- weddings in at least two cases. The orchestration for the most part is large and varied, with several pieces including trumpets and tympani; the Cantata No. 195, "Dem Gerechten muß das Licht," BWV 195, features a dazzling array of strings, oboe, oboe d'amore, transverse flutes, horns, trumpets, bassoon, timpani, and continuo. The result is that these pieces play to the strengths of Koopman's interpretations: the warm, flawless blend of the Amsterdam Baroque Choir and the sharp differentiation of the instruments within what remains a big, festive sound overall. The famous cantata in this group is the Cantata No. 140, "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme," BWV 140, with its "Sleepers Awake" chorale and its lovely variations on a pastoral theme. Sample the opening chorus (CD 2, track 1) for an idea of what you can expect in the various large choruses in the lesser-known cantatas in the set: each has its nice textural touches, and not a one gets lost in Koopman's expert interpretation. Hear the "Welt, ade, ich bin dein müde" (World, goodbye, I am tired of you) movement of the Cantata No. 158, "Der Friede sei mit dir," BWV 158, for an example of Koopman at his best: this odd combination of a bass aria with mantra-like interjections of the chorale from the choir's sopranos would throw a lesser conductor. The soloists in this set are also unusually effective. Soprano Sandrine Piau's voice is unhampered by the high pitch Koopman employs, and her soaring lyricism makes an effective foil for the unusual, rather English horn-like timbre of the alto of Bogna Bartosz. There is something a bit cool in Koopman's readings; for deep humanistic insights into Bach's music, the evolving cantata set by John Eliot Gardiner may be preferable. But in the public, festive music heard here, this lion of the historical-performance movement is hard to beat. © TiVo

The labels lately established by performing organizations have mostly been devoted to new releases, but there is a lot to be said for using them to resurrect historical performances and recordings. These tend to be ones that have hung in people's memories for years, well after newer recordings have become available. There couldn't be a better example than this, the first historical release from the Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings label. It reproduces a 1984 live performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah, Op. 70 (as Elias, in the original German) from the Nationaltheater München, with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Chor des städtischen Musikvereins zu Düsseldorf. (The latter got involved because the Bayerischer Staatsopernchor was unavailable, but the choir acquits itself very well, unsurprisingly inasmuch as Mendelssohn himself was one of its former directors.) Sawallisch was noted for his way with Mendelssohn, to which he brought a noble Germanic tinge that makes a nice contrast with the usual English performances. He never did better than here, and upon hearing that tapes of this performance had been preserved, he is said to have exclaimed, "Thank God they're safe!" The soloists, led by baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the title role and tenor Peter Schreier as Obadiah, are superb. Another attraction is the hardbound booklet, delving deep into Mendelssohn's philosophical place in German society (really philosophical -- Hegel and his dialectic come into it). The live sound from 1984 is impressive indeed, with crowd noise kept to an absolute minimum in a superb display of discipline. A wonderful historical reissue that catches the intense drama in Mendelssohn's oratorio.© James Manheim /TiVo

The Bach Cantata Tour of conductor John Eliot Gardiner and his Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists began on Christmas Day 1999 and continued through the year 2000. Its intent was to perform all of Bach's cantatas in their proper places in the liturgical year, at various musically significant locations around Europe. When multiple cantatas for a specific liturgical event survive, the group performed all of them at the concert and was a rich source of insights. Accompanied by excerpts from Gardiner's tour diaries in the handsomely designed booklets, the recordings of the concerts (enhanced only lightly with material from recorded rehearsals) capture the immediacy of live performances; they have a few blemishes and a lot of high points. The set has a cumulative impact, but collecting the whole thing is an expensive proposition. This double disc, capturing performances from Berlin's Gethsemanekirche from New Year's Day and January 2, 2000 (the beginning of the new millennium, if you agree to that way of counting it), may not be the best place to start sampling. The problem is the church's acoustics. Gardiner was asked about them by German interviewers and dutifully reports his retort that Berlin isn't exactly overflowing with suitable churches, and that anyway he liked the church's history of protest (it played a key role at the time of the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and continues to host peace activism). The engineers do very well, considering; the soloists are easy to hear and understand. But the overall sound is muddy. Even so, the excitement of the millennium-opening concert comes through well, and the remarkable set of soloists Gardiner assembled for the event was in fine form. The standout is tenor James Gilchrist, in the gloriously long aria "Woferne du die edlen Frieden" (track 11), from the Cantata No. 41, Jesu, nun sei gepreiset, BWV 41. Gardiner's booklet notes are almost reason enough to purchase these discs in themselves, and his warm, humanistic interpretations in print are perfect counterparts to his music-making. Recommended, although not the first release to buy from this series. © TiVo

Valentin Tournet and his choral and instrumental ensemble, La Chapelle Harmonique (founded in 2017), are newcomers to the French Baroque scene. Here they offer their second recording dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach. This stunning album was recorded in the—almost too—generous acoustics of the Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles, where this style would have been unheard of in the time of Louis XV.This joyous and original Latin take on Bach’s Motets contrasts with more introspective listening habits. The six Bach Motets are difficult to define. They evoke searching questions with regard to their attribution and interpretation. Were they all truly composed by Bach? Are they intended for an acapella choir (i.e., unaccompanied)? Should they be supported by basso continuo, or even an organ and instruments?Commonly composed to honour the memory of the deceased and to accompany the raising of the corpse, they are works of incredible musical depth that were admired by Mozart. They combine a certain succinctness with a complexity of writing that specifically enhances the vocal text. The present programme also contains echoes of other works, particularly two choral compositions (composed by Bach’s predecessors and reworked by Bach). © François Hudry/Qobuz

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