  | More Bach at Christmas | |||
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More
than the Christmas Oratorio | ||||
There is a considerable amount of music Bach wrote to celebrate Christmas, in addition to his Christmas Oratorio. In addition to the two versions of the Magnificat he wrote, the sacred cantatas which take in Advent and Christmas as well as the rest of the church year offer considerable riches.
The buttons link directly to Amazon UK - most of these CDs are also available from UK mail order company MDT, which also supplies good value CDs.
This is the second of three Christmas-themed collections of cantatas released as records of a year in which Gardiner and his musicians toured the world performing all of Bach's cantatas on the days of the year for which they were originally written. Volume 14 is also excellent, but this one is the better of the two, in our opinion. We've only just received Volume 16, so it's too early to say for sure but it may be even better - watch this space!
Masaaki Suzuki's recordings of the complete sacred cantatas (an ongoing project) are to a consistently high standard, with beautifully judged interpretations and fine soloists. On this recording soprano Yukari Nonoshita, countertenor Robin Blaze, tenor Gerd Türk and bass Peter Kooy are joined by period brass ensemble Concerto Palatino for three Christmas cantatas. BWV 91 'Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ', BWV 121 'Christum wir sollen loben schon' and BWV 133 'Ich freue mich in dir' are three wonderful pieces. The brass gives each of them a warm, Christmassy sound to our ears and the disc is a great success.
This is a real treasure trove of Bach's Christmas music. Not only does it include four of his festive cantatas - and two of the very best in BWV 63 'Christen ätzet diesen Tag' and BWV 133 'Ich freue mich in dir' - but it includes his 'Magnificat in E flat major'. This version of Mary's great prayer was tailored from an earlier version in D for performance at Christmas, including four additional movements integrated within its structure to tell the Christmas story. The lullaby duet 'Virga Jesse floruit' is particularly lovely. The soloists are slightly different over the two discs. Without wishing to undervalue the contribution of soprano Dorothee Blotzky-Mields on the first disc, the presence of English soprano Carolyn Sampson on the recording of BWV 63 and the Magnificat is a recommendation in itself, in our opinion possibly the finest soprano singing Bach at the moment.
Herreweghe also released an earlier compilation of Christmas cantatas, which is also excellent (see left). This includes versions of BWV 122 'Das neugeborne Kindelein', a wonderful cantata, BWV 110 'Unser Mund sei voll Lachens' and BWV 57 'Selig ist der Mann', which is also on the Gardiner CD mentioned above. It's
not so easy to get hold of lately - hopefully it will be re-released,
but in the mean time look out for it on Ebay or via Amazon Marketplace.
It's a real treat. Happily it is now
available on the download site
emusic - you can get the whole thing for nothing if you sign up for
their introductory offer! Follow this link to find out more: eMusic A Warning to the Curious...If you take these recommendations, then do be warned. You'll end up with duplicate recordings, each showing different aspects of these great pieces and that's how a dangerous interest in the cantatas can start! If you do get interested in christmas.matters@gmail.com?subject=Feedbackthis music then the Bach Cantatas Website is a great place to start. For reference, here are Bach's Christmas cantatas by BWV number, with more information on that website: 40, 41, 63, 64, 65, 91, 121, 122, 133, 152, 190, 191. Bach for AdventWhile Bach's time in Leipzig saw the absence of 'concertante' (ie. orchestral) music during the period of Advent, a kind of aural fasting, there are still several cantatas which he wrote for the period of Advent and recordings which display these pieces of anticipation and hope to their best advantage.
This recording from 1992 features the same three cantatas for Advent as the disc from Philippe Herreweghe below. It is a great example from the period of Gardiner's career as a Bach interpreter before his epic 2000 tour in which he performed all the cantatas on their appropriate days. The Monteverdi Choir is one of the best in the business and the way in which they and the English Baroque Soloists begin the first cantata on this disc BWV 61, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, is truly thrilling. Advent is about anticipation and the hymn tune (with the same name as BWV 61) which is the inspiration for all of these pieces to us seems to embody the restlessness and excitement of waiting for something good. Returning to the opening of BWV 61, first performed in 1714, Bach turns the hymn tune into an overture - which is really what Advent is to Christmas. By contrast, the opening of BWV 62, dating from 1724, is (as Ruth Tatlow points out in the liner notes) reminiscent of a regal procession, the entrance of the King into human history. BWV 36 'Schwingt freudig euch empor', the latest of the three dating from 1731, is constructed in a two part form featuring movements of great variety and spellbinding quality. The swirling oboe accompaniment to the hymn tune sung by the tenors in the second part is mesmerising and leads into what is, for us, the highlight of the cantata, the soprano aria 'Auch mit gedämpften, schwachen Stimmen' ('Even with hushed, weak voices') with a sublime violin obligato, a sense of humility in contrast to the grander statements elsewhere and here performed sensitively by Nancy Argenta. The soloists are all excellent - three of them also performed in Gardiner's first recording of the Christmas Oratorio and the qualities of soprano Nancy Argenta, tenor Anthony Rolfe Johnson and bass Olaf Bär are just as evident here. Alto Petra Lang also excels, in particular in the duet with Argenta in BWV 36.
The same cantatas are performed on this recording, beginning with BWV 36 and proceeding through BWV 61 & BWV 62. The main difference we have noticed here as with other recordings by these two artists is, broadly speaking, a tendency towards the contemplative for Herreweghe, as opposed to a tendency to the dramatic with Gardiner. That's a very crude way of putting it, and not strictly accurate, but it gives some indication of the relative strengths of each man. The sound of this recording is ravishing: there is a transparency to the instruments and the choir that reveals the depth of Bach's music. If there is not the same immediate bite to the Overture to BWV 61 as in Gardiner's performance, the more gradual unfolding of Herreweghe's performance is as striking. Again, there are no problems with any of the soloists: bass Peter Kooy is in fine voice, as is the tenor Christoph Prégardien (who was Koopman's evangelist in the Christmas Oratorio). Sibylla Rubens is wonderful in 'Öffne dich, mein ganzes Herzen' in BWV 61 and her duet with the excellent Sarah Connolly in BWV 36. Rubens' performance of 'Auch mit gedämpften, schwachen Stimmen' in BWV 36 is a highlight of the entire recording. In short, you won't go wrong with either of these collections of JS Bach's music for Advent. Whether you prefer Gardiner's swagger or Herreweghe's moments of still, ravishing beauty is very much a matter of taste. Speaking personally, we wouldn't be without either of them! | ||||
The Monteverdi Choir &
English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner
The Bach Collegium Japan /
Masaaki Suzuki
Collegium Vocale Ghent / Philippe Herreweghe
The
second disc is also now available on its own at a reduced price (see
left).
Collegium Vocale Ghent /
Philippe Herreweghe