Johann Sebastian Bach: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis

Heinz Holliger

Released on 05/09/2011 by ECM New Series
Main artists: Heinz Holliger Camerata Bern Erich Höbarth
Genre: Classical

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This album of music for oboe and strings by Bach involves mostly hypothetical reconstructions from various times, with a concerto by Alessandro Marcello and a couple of oboe solos from choral pieces to round out the program. Most of the music here is better known in versions for keyboard and orchestra. But nothing about these facts reduces its beauty or even its historical authenticity; there are strong indications that several of Bach's keyboard concertos were based on lost originals for wind instruments, and in any event arrangements of all kinds were common within Bach's oeuvre. Bach himself arranged a good deal of Italian music for new instrumental combinations, and indeed he arranged the Marcello concerto heard here for solo harpsichord. What is heard here is the original concerto, and it's unclear what's meant by the inclusion of Bach's name in the track list in connection with this work. Veteran Swiss oboist Heinz Holliger, however, will make you forget such issues with his gorgeous performance of the slow movement of this work, which gains in intensity without overstepping Baroque structure in a way that's very difficult to pull off. The genuine Bach works are equally affecting, and Holliger's command of the oboe d'amore in the concerto (BWV 1055) for that instrument shows absolutely no sign of loss of control as he enters his eighth decade. The addition of the sacred music excerpts lends a somber air to the program as a whole, which is dedicated in memoriam to Holliger's brother and to a colleague. The Camerata Bern, a historically informed ensemble using Baroque bows and gut strings, offers clean, unobtrustive support, and the entire album is a model for the pairing of a mainstream instrumentalist with an ensemble oriented toward historical performances. Another strong point is ECM's sound, about which the packaging is silent: wherever it was recorded, the music has an astonishing combination of warmth, clarity, and depth. Holliger must have played these works hundreds of times, but he adds something new in old age.
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Johann Sebastian Bach: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis

Heinz Holliger

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Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, Cantata BWV 21 / Pt. 1 (Johann Sebastian Bach)

1. Sinfonia

00:03:03

Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer - Erich Höbarth, Conductor, MainArtist - Andreas Werner, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Heinz Holliger, Oboe, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Camerata Bern, Chamber Orchestra, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Manfred Eicher, Producer

℗ 2011 ECM Records GmbH

Concerto For 2 Harpsichords, Strings, And Continuo In C Minor, BWV 1060 - Reconstruction For Oboe, Violin, Strings & B.c. (Johann Sebastian Bach)

1. Allegro

00:04:51

℗ 2011 ECM Records GmbH

2. Adagio

00:04:50

℗ 2011 ECM Records GmbH

3. Allegro (II)

00:03:39

℗ 2011 ECM Records GmbH

Kommt, eilet und laufet (Easter Oratorio), BWV 249 (Johann Sebastian Bach)

2. Adagio

00:03:22

Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer - Erich Höbarth, Conductor, MainArtist - Andreas Werner, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Heinz Holliger, Oboe, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Camerata Bern, Chamber Ensemble, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Manfred Eicher, Producer

℗ 2011 ECM Records GmbH

Concerto For Oboe d'amore, Strings, And Continuo In A, BWV 1055R (Johann Sebastian Bach)

1. (-)