BACH Cantatas, Vol. 13: No. 61(1,5,6); No. 62(1,3,5,6); No. 36(1,3,5,6); No. 70(2,4,5,6); No. 132(2,4,5,6); No. 147(2,4,5,6) * John Eliot Gardiner (cond); 1Joanne Lunn, 2Brigitte Geller (sop); 3William Towers, 4Michael Chance (ct); 5Jan Kobow (ten); 6Dietrich Henschel (bs); Monteverdi Ch; English Baroque Soloists (period instruments) * SOLI DEI GLORIA SDG 162 (2 CDs: 134:22 *)
Advent marks the beginning of the ecclesiastical year, but it signaled the beginning of the end of John Eliot Gardiner's year-long Bach Cantata Pilgrimage. These discs document the last European performances before Gardiner brought his fellow travelers to the New World to wrap up their epic adventure with Christmas and New Year's concerts in New York. Advent is also the season of joyful anticipation: Christmas is coming! Three Advent cantatas on disc 1, BWV 61, 62, and 36, all built around the same advent chorale, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, but all so different, are yet another demonstration of Bach's Sweaters Clothing inexhaustible imagination. Gardiner admirably captures the spirit of the season, with his chorus at its usual best Replica Balenciaga Handbags and fine contributions from his soloists. Worthy of special mention is Joanne Lunn's tranquil aria in Cantata 36, which can best be described as enchanting. I should probably mention an anomalous drop in volume for the bass recitative of Cantata 61 that renders it virtually inaudible at a normal listening level. Don't boost the gain unless you keep your hand on the dial.
The second cantata on disc 2, BWV 132, has no opening chorus, giving rise to speculation that the score is incomplete. It is sandwiched by two favorites, each of which opens with a rousing chorale fantasia. Cantata 70 may be the highlight of the album, full to the brim with vitality and enthusiasm. Soprano Brigitte Geller's aria displays what is becoming a rare commodity these days, a lovely, finely controlled vibrato. In Cantata 147, however, bass Dietrich Henschel, whose other solos sounded so dynamic, seems merely strident. The whole cantata is unfortunately disappointing, feeling strangely out of sync-until the familiar strains of "Jesus bleibet meine Freude" (Jesu, Joy of My Desiring) fill the air, and one can't help feeling that, after all is said and done, something is right with the world.
Prior to embarking on his pilgrimage-and before Archiv dumped the recording project into his lap-Gardiner and that label issued a dozen CDs in anticipation of the venture, even creating a "Bach Cantata Pilgrimage" logo for the set. Unlike the SDG recordings, Archiv's were made under studio conditions. Girard Perregaux Replica Watches They are still around and serve the purpose of filling the gaps that will be left in the catalog when Soli Deo Gloria's edition is completed. However, there is a considerable overlap, including four of the six cantatas in this release. Gardiner's earlier No. 147, coupled with Cantata 140, has been my default recommendation for newcomers to Bach cantatas, and is to be preferred over the newer one, but there's little to choose between Archiv's Nos. 61, 62, and 36 and SDG's, which also offers a superb Cantata 70, not to mention "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." George Chien
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