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Bach: Matthäus-Passion / Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan

BIS

Available as CD

$39.99

Dec 01, 1999

"Masaaki Suzuki brings to the St Matthew Passion the same devotional intensity that has characterised his Bach cantata recordings. This focus is immediately evident in the opening chorus/chorale, which he imbues with compelling power despite opting to use relatively small vocal and orchestral forces throughout. It is evident, too, in Bach Collegium Japan’s impeccable performances, which bespeak a score explored in meticulous detail and with profound affection. There is certainly much to admire here: fierce turbas, gentle chorales, exemplary instrumental solos."

5 out of 5 stars for both sound and performace!

-- Graham Lock, BBC Music Magazine

Bach: Cantatas Vol 10 / Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan

BIS

Available as CD

$21.99

Jun 01, 1999

This 10th volume in BIS's ongoing Bach cantata series features three works Bach composed during his first summer in Leipzig. While BWV 179 certainly has been recorded more frequently, BVW 186 (Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht) is the most significant of the three because of its greater length and because it marks Bach's return to two-part cantata form. Based on a revised lost cantata originally composed at Weimar, this is a remarkably assured work, grand in conception yet subtle in its underlying beauty. The opening chorus must be counted among Bach's most stately, its impact augmented by multiple oboes, strings, and full continuo. Among the soloists, tenor Makato Sakurada delivers an introspective fourth-movement recitative that perfectly sets up his spirited fifth-movement aria. Equally distinguished is the 10th-movement duet, expertly harmonized by countertenor Robin Blaze and soprano Miah Persson--a dance that steps as high as any we've heard from Bach so far.

The popularity of BWV 179--Siehe zu, dass deine Gottesfurcht nicht Heuchelei sei (Make sure that your fear of God is not hypocrisy)--is understandable since it not only includes one of Bach's most exciting opening choruses, but also gives unusual dramatic license to the soloists through the text's many self-deprecating references. In respect to the latter, for its sheer declarative power, no recording surpasses Karl Richter's awe-inspiring 1976 Archiv account featuring Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Peter Schreier, and Edith Mathis. While not quite up to Richter's level, Suzuki and his forces offer their own interpretive details. For instance, in the fifth-movement aria Suzuki broadens the tempo, and the additional time (more than a minute longer than Richter's version) heightens Persson's characterization of wanton shame and pity. The only performance slower than Suzuki's (more than a minute longer!) is Gunther Ramin's, where Elisabeth Meinel-Asbahr's ruthless, devastating anguish guarantees tears.

BWV 105--Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht (Lord, do not enter into judgment with thy servant)--also features many inspired moments. The magnificent, brooding opening chorus is most engaging, and tenor Sakurada's beautifully rendered espousal of determination in his fifth-movement aria is superb--as is the final chorale, where Bach's clever, near-dissonant string writing effectively alludes to weariness if not weeping, the gradually slowing pulse eventually leading to resigned calm.

As usual with this series Suzuki and his colleagues deliver performances that more often than not are without peer. Faithfully captured by BIS's expert engineering team, their ongoing cycle promises to be the most consistently rewarding one currently or previously available.

--John Greene, ClassicsToday.com

Bach: Cantatas Vol 2 / Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan

BIS

Available as CD

$21.99

Feb 01, 1996

My enthusiasm for Volume 1 in the Bach Collegium Japan's cycle of Bach's cantatas continues here in a program that includes a work (BWV 131) based on conductor Masaaki Suzuki's favorite psalm, number 130. (In the notes to the first volume Suzuki candidly declares how important his Christian convictions are to his interpretations, and describes his relationship to Bach as "fellows in faith"). Though thematically based on the depths and multitudes of sin, Bach's settings here are not entirely solemn--nor are Suzuki's spirited renderings. The opening selection, Gott ist mein König, begins with a striking choral "Gott!" followed by enough resounding brass and percussion to simultaneously excite the layman and instill joyous consolation among the faithful. Bass Peter Kooy's more somber though equally compelling fourth-movement aria "Tag und Nacht ist dein" couldn't be more lovely; as the singer muses over God's omniscient reach, he's partnered by a lingering melody that anticipates the composer's famous Sinfonia in C. Likewise countertenor Yoshikazu Mera shines in his brief aria "Durch mächtige Kraft", accompanied only by a trio of trumpet, organ, and timpani.

Arguably one of Bach's most angst-ridden cantatas, Aus der Tiefe rufe ich Herr, zu dir gets a reading that equals if not surpasses Günther Ramin's legendary 1952 account (a statement heretofore unimaginable). Though nearly as dramatically slow in tempo as Ramin, Suzuki often subtly mutes the choir, which heightens the overall impression of humility, misery, despair, and lifelong repentance. Also unlike Ramin, who unfortunately had only less-than-accurate editions at his disposal, Suzuki includes an additional soprano (Midori Suzuki) whose sublime laments beautifully complement Kooy's second-movement aria.

From Bach's so-called "Mühlhausen period" (where he held the post of organist at Mühlhausen's Church of St. Blasius) his Actus Tragicus funeral cantata (Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit) remains his most popular and oft-recorded work. While long-standing favorite recordings include such diverse readings as Karl Richter's grand Munich Bach Orchestra modern-instrument performance and the Collegium Aureum's much more intimate original-instrument account, Suzuki again successfully combines the best of both approaches. The famed opening instrumental sonatina couldn't be more graceful and appropriately suggestive of another world. As well, tenor Gerd Türk and countertenor Yoshikazu Mera deliver exceptionally lovely performances, particularly in the third-movement choral. This Actus Tragicus surely is one of the best, if not the best currently available (both of the recordings mentioned above are scarce imports). BIS again complements Suzuki's achievement with state-of-the-art sonics and engaging and informative booklet notes by Suzuki and Tadashi Isoyama. Highly recommended. [3/5/2003]
--John Greene, ClassicsToday.com

C.p.e. Bach: Cello Concertos / Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan

BIS

Available as CD

$21.99

Mar 01, 1997

Writing in the booklet for this release, Hidemi Suzuki wonders why it is that cellists who bemoan their lack of concerto repertory continue to neglect C. P. E. Bach's three essays in the genre. One can only agree with him that it is indeed a mystery, for these are excellent pieces, full of infectious nervous energy in their outer movements and tender lyricism in central ones (heaven knows, there are nineteenth-century concertos for all sorts of instruments which we are condemned to hear over and over again that are not half as good as these). The Bach concertos are not unknown to the recording catalogues, however, not least because they also exist in alternative versions which the composer made for flute and harpsichord respectively. 'Modern' cellists who have been tempted to try some out include Rostropovich (H436) and Tortelier (1-1439), and there are currently discs of all three available from Timothy Hugh and Miklos Perenyi. As yet, though, the only baroque player to have attempted them has been, predictably enough, Anner Bylsma.

It is not known in what order the three instrumentations of these concertos originally came, but as Suzuki points out there are times when the low-lying cello has difficulty making itself heard properly against the orchestra, having said which, he proceeds to make light of the matter in performances whose agility, lightness and textural clarity make those of Bylsma and the larger-sounding OAE sound heavy-handed by comparison. But while Suzuki - thanks to a generally thinner sound - is the more successful in the way he transmits the surface excitement and energy of the quick movements, he cannot match Bylsma's vocal inspiration in the eloquent, sometimes brooding empfindsamkeit poetry of the slow movement — in such music, the Dutchman is always worth listening to. Suzuki's, nevertheless, are refreshing and enlivening performances of attractive and substantial music which I have already found myself replaying with pleasure. If you are a cellist, you should buy it straightaway to find out what you have been missing!

-- Gramophone [2/1998]

Bach: Cantatas Vol 27 / Suzuki, Rydén, Bertin, Kooij, Türk

BIS

Available as CD

$21.99

Mar 01, 2005

There’s a bit of a problem with the inclusion of the lead item on this disc. BWV 80, Ein feste Burg ist under Gott, is the quintessential chorale cantata, but it wasn’t a part of the second Leipzig cycle (1724–25). The most conclusive evidence indicates that in its present form it was first performed later––perhaps as late as 1731––but that it was derived from a much earlier effort, BWV 80a, composed, perhaps, in 1715. What’s more, most current listeners got to know it in an even later version. Bach’s oldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, added high trumpet and timpani parts when he used the cantata in Halle, where he served from 1746 to 1764. His additions were so skillfully integrated that they were considered authentic and printed in the first Bach edition. Only recently has Bach’s original version come into fashion. Meanwhile, what took Bach so long to settle on his own version of the score? Consider that he was the most Lutheran of all composers, while Ein feste Burg was Martin Luther’s most characteristic hymn. Perhaps, Bach simply felt obliged to get it right, no matter when. The present release confirms that the elder Bach’s solution, without drums and trumpets, is more than adequately stirring––but one secretly hopes that the weight of scholarship will not cause the younger Bach’s version to disappear completely.

Cantatas 5 and 115 are correctly placed in historical context, having been composed for October and November 1724, respectively. Both exemplify Bach’s chorale cantata concept and demonstrate his endless ingenuity. Cantata 5, retelling the story of Jesus healing a crippled man, traces the path from supplication in the tenor aria (with water from the divine spring bubbling in the background) to triumph in the aria for bass with obbligato slide trumpet (tromba da tiarsi). BWV 115, based on the parable of the unforgiving servant, has a pair of remarkable arias, too––one, for alto, depicting sleep; the other, for soprano, representing prayer.

Maestro Suzuki has added two fine new soloists to his roster, the Swedish soprano, Susanne Rydén and the French countertenor Pascal Bertin. The lower parts are handled by series veterans Gerd Türk and Peter Kooij. As always, the performances, the recording, and the presentation are splendid.

George Chien, FANFARE