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J.S. Bach: Adventskantaten
Philippe Herreweghe
Classical - Released August 1, 1997 | harmonia mundi
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Bach: Cantatas BWV 29, 61 & 140
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Cantatas (sacred) - Released November 13, 2009 | deutsche harmonia mundi
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3F de Télérama
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Telemann: Christmas Cantatas, Vol. 3
Mirko Ludwig
Classical - Released January 4, 2019 | CPO
Booklet
Between 1717 and 1765 Georg Philipp Telemann composed more than 1 700 cantatas for performance on all the Sundays of the church year. Some dozen annual cycles from his period as music director in Frankfurt am Main and above all those from his Hamburg years have come down to us. In quantitative terms, the four Sundays of Advent and the three days of Christmas are the most strongly represented – with almost about two hundred cantatas. Apart from the cantatas for solo voice and solo instrument with basso continuo from his anthology Harmonischer Gottesdienst of 1725, only a few compositions for larger ensembles from this treasure trove have been edited and recorded. This album features four cantatas by Telemann that may be regarded as world-premiere recordings. They are musical gems that impress us with their melodic originality and musical character and even after more than 250 years are very much worth being performed again! © CPO
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Prism V
Danish String Quartet
Classical - Released April 14, 2023 | ECM New Series
Hi-Res
Booklet
The Danish String Quartet's Prism V is the last in a series of "Prism" releases, each presenting one of Beethoven's five late string quartets, prefaced by a Bach work that could have been a source for some of Beethoven's thematic material, and followed by a more contemporary work. The idea is a promising one, for Beethoven indisputably made a deep study of Bachian counterpoint in his later years, and several releases in the series have been revelatory. The finale seems to offer an attractive symmetry; the opening Bach work is the Chorale Prelude, BWV 668 ("Vor deinem Thron tret' ich"), which was published with The Art of Fugue and was Bach's last completed composition, and the program proceeds with Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, Beethoven's final full piece. The thematic links in this case are a bit hazier than on the other albums, and making the Beethoven quartet sound Bach-inspired takes quite a bit of effort on the players' parts; the rough humor of the work is shoved to the background. This said, the performance of the Beethoven quartet itself is up to the Danish Quartet's usual very high standard; it is an unorthodox but absorbing reading with great control and detail. Anton Webern's youthful and ultra-Romantic String Quartet of 1905, not often heard, is another attraction here. The program ends with the unfinished final fugue of Bach's The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, breaking off in mid-measure as if to suggest that there is more on the way from this superb group. Admirers of the Danish String Quartet's series will be satisfied with this release, and indeed, they put it on classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2023.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Bach: Cantatas for Bass
Matthias Goerne
Classical - Released August 25, 2017 | harmonia mundi
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
Here’s a repertoire that everybody knows about yet is completely neglected: the Bach cantatas. Granted a few have gained some importance, mostly thanks to the vocal qualities of singers who have seized it for a few decades – Fischer-Dieskau and Elly Ameling to name a few – while some complete works adorn aficionados’ collections. There is however enough content in these cantatas to “make up” about a dozen Passions or Oratorios on par with some of those we already know. Bach himself didn’t refrain from drawing from them to recycle arias, ensembles, choirs and sinfonias. Among some of the most famous, honoured in the 1950s by Fischer-Dieskau, are two cantatas for baritone: Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen (1726) and Ich habe genug (1727), both written with oboe and string accompaniment. It’s precisely with this roster in mind that the Freiburger Barockorchester serves Matthias Goerne, a disciple of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and… Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, him again! The German baritone, a regular on the world’s most prestigious scenes, doesn’t refrain from lending his immense voice to this almost-chamber music by giving it a character far removed from the lyrical style required by Berg, Wagner or Strauss. In addition, still with the oboe in mind, the recording includes the Concerto in A Major for Oboe d'amore BWV1055R, a modern reconstruction from a keyboard concerto in A major, which there is every reason to believe was itself recycled by Bach from an older concerto for oboe d'amore. The remarkable Katharina Arfken plays the oboe for the cantatas and the oboe d’amore for the concerto. © SM/Qobuz
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J.S. Bach : St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244
John Eliot Gardiner
Masses, Passions, Requiems - Released March 3, 2017 | SDG
Hi-Res
Booklet
Distinctions
5 de Diapason -
Gramophone Award -
Gramophone: Recording of the Month -
5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
Recorded live at Pisa Cathedral in 2016, this recording of Bach's St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, is of a piece with the touring Bach Cantata Pilgrimage recordings released in the early 2000s: it is rich yet lively, sung with precision yet a total sense of commitment in the moment. The singers -- the Monteverdi Choir of 30 with soloists all drawn from the choir, except for Jesus (Stephan Loges) and the Evangelist (James Gilchrist) -- performed from memory, and the feeling that the text is being communicated directly is even greater than is usual with Gardiner. An unusual feature of the recording is that the soloists are not single per part; the soprano solos are taken by no fewer than five different singers. Several (try Hannah Morrison in "Aus liebe") are lovely, and the effect of a space between the congregational chorales and the focus on an individual soloist is fascinating. The hair-trigger alertness of the chorus in the big numbers like "Sind Blitze, sind Donner in Wolken verschwunden?" is also extremely compelling. Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir offer Bach with the luxury of old-fashioned Romantic versions combined with the agility of historical performance, and they've never done the combination better than they do here.
© TiVo
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Bach: Redemption
Anna Prohaska
Classical - Released June 26, 2020 | Alpha Classics
Hi-Res
Booklet
Anna Prohaska asked Wolfgang Katschner and the Lautten Compagney at the outset of the coronavirus crisis whether they shouldn’t spontaneously organize a musical get-together in this period. This has now resulted in "Redemption". This is a sequence of music selected solely from Bach cantatas, compiled in keeping with the aforenamed conceptual association. "Redemption" has multiple meanings, for instance: can music give us consolation in times of sickness and crisis; can it open up emotional and contemplative spaces for us; is it redemptive for musicians to be the “instruments” in engendering music and therefore spirituality… ? Besides Anna Prohaska as soloist and three other singers, "Redemption" features a larger group of musicians – around twenty instrumentalists. These musicians serve a dual role: they expertly accompany the arias that Anna Prohaska sings and they also represent the concept of human interaction and a shared collective experience which has been missing during these times. © Alpha Classics
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J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244
Bach Collegium Japan
Classical - Released February 7, 2020 | BIS
Hi-Res
Booklet
“A great joy”: this is how Masaaki Suzuki considers this, his second recording of the St. Matthew’s Passion, made twenty years after the first one, in the Saitama Arts Theatre in Japan in April 2019 for the BIS label. A great opportunity to revisit the work, as in the elapsed time, the conductor and his orchestra have nearly completely recorded Bach’s choral music, including the complete masses and secular and sacred cantatas. As is his custom, Suzuki works with European soloists for this new recording, like the splendid young German tenor Benjamin Bruns, playing the stupendous part of the Evangelist. There are other familiar soloists that feature here, such as Carolyn Sampson, Damien Guillon, Makoto Sakurada and Christian Immler. There is nothing monumental about this new intimate and refined version, which follows the fateful narrative with great sobriety. There is nevertheless a fervent level of impulse, as well as a certain innocence within this resolutely pared back Lutheran perspective - there is never any real search for theatricality. The exceptional instrumental quality of the soloists of the Bach Collegium Japan and the soft touches of the two choral ensembles is also worth highlighting. © François Hudry / Qobuz
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Bach : St Matthew Passion (Édition 5.1)
René Jacobs
Classical - Released October 7, 2013 | harmonia mundi
Hi-Res
Booklet + Video
Distinctions
Choc de Classica -
Choc Classica de l'année
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J.S. Bach: Johannes-Passion
Philippe Herreweghe
Classical - Released July 31, 2007 | harmonia mundi
Booklet
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J.S. Bach : Johannes-Passion (St John Passion)
La Petite Bande
Classical - Released March 2, 2012 | Challenge Classics
Hi-Res
Veteran Dutch historical-instrument specialist Sigiswald Kuijken adopts a version of the one-voice-per-part procedure in this performance of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245, using four soloists and another quartet for the "ripieno" or choral passages. Refreshingly, he doesn't even try to claim historical authenticity for this in the interview-format notes, pointing instead to the "extremely natural balance with the instrumental ensemble" and the "textual expressivity his approach permits." He even concedes that for a major performance of this work, Bach would likely have had larger forces available. If you believe that the contrast between German Lutheran chorus and Italianate melody lies at the heart of Bach's appeal, forming a richness unparalleled since Albrecht Dürer infused Italian color into the severe German figures of his paintings, then look elsewhere. For the adherent of Kuijken's approach, however, this St. John Passion merits consideration, as much for the unexpected instrumental details emerging from Kuijken's La Petite Bande as for the work of the soloists; alto Petra Noskaiová is superb, but the others are a mixed bag. The sound, from Belgium's Academiezaal concert hall, is a major plus.
© TiVo
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Prism V
Danish String Quartet
Classical - Released April 14, 2023 | ECM New Series
Booklet
The Danish String Quartet's Prism V is the last in a series of "Prism" releases, each presenting one of Beethoven's five late string quartets, prefaced by a Bach work that could have been a source for some of Beethoven's thematic material, and followed by a more contemporary work. The idea is a promising one, for Beethoven indisputably made a deep study of Bachian counterpoint in his later years, and several releases in the series have been revelatory. The finale seems to offer an attractive symmetry; the opening Bach work is the Chorale Prelude, BWV 668 ("Vor deinem Thron tret' ich"), which was published with The Art of Fugue and was Bach's last completed composition, and the program proceeds with Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, Beethoven's final full piece. The thematic links in this case are a bit hazier than on the other albums, and making the Beethoven quartet sound Bach-inspired takes quite a bit of effort on the players' parts; the rough humor of the work is shoved to the background. This said, the performance of the Beethoven quartet itself is up to the Danish Quartet's usual very high standard; it is an unorthodox but absorbing reading with great control and detail. Anton Webern's youthful and ultra-Romantic String Quartet of 1905, not often heard, is another attraction here. The program ends with the unfinished final fugue of Bach's The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, breaking off in mid-measure as if to suggest that there is more on the way from this superb group. Admirers of the Danish String Quartet's series will be satisfied with this release, and indeed, they put it on classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2023.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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J.S. Bach: Cantates pour basse
Philippe Herreweghe
Classical - Released December 1, 1991 | harmonia mundi
Booklets
In 1991, Philippe Herreweghe and La Chapelle Royale recorded three Bach cantatas on the themes of suffering and death – death viewed as a kindly comforter. The soloist was the prodigious bass Peter Kooy, a longstanding partner of the ensemble and a key figure in its magnificent survey of Bach’s cantatas, motets and Passions. A major milestone in the discography. © harmonia mundi
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Bach: Cantatas, Vol. 12
James Gilchrist
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released October 26, 2010 | SDG
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J. S. Bach: Cantates BWV 180, 49 & 115
Christoph Prégardien
Classical - Released January 1, 1994 | naïve classique
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Bach: Matthäus-Passion
Dresdner Kreuzchor
Classical - Released October 15, 2021 | Eterna
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J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244
Gaechinger Cantorey
Classical - Released March 5, 2021 | Accentus Music
Hi-Res
Booklet
"The St. Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the greatest works in the history of music. Whenever I study this epochal composition, I always ask myself the question: How can a work of music, which is performed each year in thousands of performances, has been scientifically and artistically interpreted for decades, and worshiped for centuries, remain a new, contemporary, and at the same time universal and supreme idea? It can be achieved if that which is defined as established and comprehensive, and appears or is accepted as unshakeable, is set in motion without capping the connections to the work itself and its musical- historical, intellectual and theological foundations", says Hans-Christoph Rademann about one of the monumental sacred works of music history. In November 2020, Rademann and the Gächinger Cantorey ensemble and chorus, together with an extraordinary group of soloists, set out to lend a new and fresh perspective to Bach's timeless masterpiece of raging choirs, intimate chorales, and emotionally charged arias, which, with its drama and pictorial quality, allows the listener to experience the well-known Passion story again and again as something completely new and unheard-of. © Accentus Music
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Bach: Cantatas BWV 56 & 82
Le Concert Lorrain
Classical - Released September 1, 2023 | Etcetera
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Johann Sebastian Bach: Transcriptions
Ensemble Contraste
Classical - Released February 25, 2013 | La Dolce Volta
Hi-Res
Booklet
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