Baroque Era
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Handel, G.F.: Orchestral Music - Hwv 35, 313, 317, 322, 334,
Bach: Cantatas Vol 16 / Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists
This disc contains the very final concert, the fifty-ninth, of Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Bach Cantata Pilgrimage. This was the last of three concerts given in New York to conclude the Pilgrimage. We’ve already had one disc devoted to Christmas cantatas, performed on Christmas Day itself (see review), and its companion, recorded at a concert given just two days later (see review). Now here’s the final Christmas instalment.
It must have been quite an emotional occasion for the Pilgrims, knowing that this was the end of their journey – a journey of discovery and celebration. Gardiner makes that clear in his notes, but even if he had not done so anyone who has followed the series to date would have guessed as much from the comments that various performers have made in their own recollections, printed in earlier booklets.
The concert begins not with a cantata but with a motet, Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225.This was a most intelligent piece of programming since the concert was to close with the cantata that bears the same title. The motet begins with infectious joyfulness – Sir John refers to the “joyous, spirited singing” – but the Monteverdi Choir is no less alive to more reflective moments in Bach’s piece. This means that the central section is marvellously poised. In the outer stretches of the work, however, they provide singing of superb clarity, full tone and rhythmic vivaciousness.
BWV 152 contrasts very strongly with the motet. This is a work from Bach’s Weimar period and it is scored for very modest forces indeed. A solo soprano and a bass are accompanied by just six instrumentalists – recorder, oboe, viola d’amore, viola da gamba and a continuo, comprising cello and organ. Alfred Dürr suggests, in his definitive study of the cantatas, that perhaps, after the other musical demands made on the Weimar musicians during the Christmas period, Bach had very limited forces available to him and made a virtue of necessity in his scoring. The result is a wonderfully intimate creation, which is sung delightfully by Gillian Keith and Peter Harvey.
Harvey, one of the rocks of this whole series, is in fine voice. Gillian Keith also excels, especially in the sublime aria, ‘Stein der über alle Schätze’. Here the recorder and viola d’amore intertwine sinuously in support of her touching singing. This is a wonderfully delicate movement and the fragility of the music contrasts pointedly with the much more emphatic bass recitatives that are placed on either side of it. There’s no concluding chorale. Instead the cantata ends with a dialogue between the Soul (soprano) and Jesus (bass), which is very well done here. This wasn’t a cantata with which I was very familiar so I’m particularly delighted to find it in such an excellent performance.
Next we hear BWV 122, a Leipzig piece. This is based on an old hymn, dating from 1597, which would have been familiar to the Leipzig congregations. Peter Harvey has a challenging aria, which, predictably, he puts across very well. I like Katharine Fuge’s lovely, pure tone in the following recitative and then she and James Gilchrist combine most effectively in a terzetto, in which they’re joined by the altos of the choir, who sing the chorale melody beneath the soloists’ florid lines.
The first two cantatas have been predominantly reflective in tone. Now, however, the decks are cleared for some serious rejoicing, beginning with BWV 28. Against a sprightly accompaniment Joanne Lunn opens the proceedings with what Dürr calls a “joyful, dance-like song of thanksgiving.” This is an engaging, smiling piece of singing; not only is Miss Lunn characterful but she’s also technically assured. There follows a magnificent chorus, which finds the Monteverdi Choir on stunning, incisive form. Gilchrist is at his most expressive in the recitative ‘Gott ist ein Quell’ and then he and Daniel Taylor are terrific in the sprightly duet ‘Gott hat uns im heurigen Jahre gesegnet.’
But you sense that the whole concert has been building up to the performance of BWV 190. This cantata has come down to us with only a fragmentary orchestral score and Gardiner and his colleagues engaged in some well-informed reconstruction. For example, timpani and a trio of trumpets have been added to the opening chorus, to thrilling effect and, as we shall see, there’s an even more inspired piece of re-scoring later on.
The piece opens with a chorus that is nothing less than an outbreak of unbridled rejoicing. On this occasion the music is invested with the sort of vital, virtuoso singing and playing for which Gardiner has become renowned. He and his performers convey a life-enhancing optimism. One senses that everyone was on their toes to provide the Big Finish to the Pilgrimage. The cantus firmus interjections from Luther’s German Te Deum are especially fervent but then so is the whole of this chorus; it’s a really spine tingling performance.
Later comes a duet for tenor and bass soloists, ‘Jesus soll mein alles sein.’ In an inspired piece of scoring, Gardiner allots the obbligato to the viola d’amore. The obbligato part consists largely of “chains of wistful, gestural arabesques bouncing off a silent main beat” (Gardiner). The effect is quite ravishing. One might have feared that the delicate, husky sound of the viola d’amore would be swamped by the singers. However, without holding back, Gilchrist and Harvey sing with such exemplary control and taste that everything fits together beautifully. Gardiner chose to repeat this movement as the second and final encore at the end of the concert and it’s a nice thought that this was the last music to be heard during the Pilgrimage. The thought is all the more poignant since the violist, Katherine McGillvray, died last year aged just thirty-six; the CD is dedicated to her memory.
After this luminous duet comes a tenor recitative. It was the final solo of the concert and, therefore, of the Pilgrimage and it’s fitting that this should have been entrusted to James Gilchrist, since he’s been another mainstay of the whole enterprise. He produces a marvellously weighted, nuanced piece of singing, which typifies the skill and perception of so many of his contributions to the Pilgrimage.
All that remains is the final, affirmative chorale, which, as performed here, seems to be a summation and a salute to the genius of Bach. This performance anticipated by a few hours the New Year for which the cantata was written. As such, it looked back on a year of homage to Bach and celebration of his music in the 250th anniversary year of his death. But the performance also seems to look forward with confidence, perhaps because Gardiner and his team felt inspired and refreshed by their shared and individual experiences during the course of the Pilgrimage. For the Pilgrims this marked journey’s end. For those of us who are reliving their journey through the medium of CD we have many more volumes in prospect. The next instalment is keenly awaited but for now this splendid disc will sustain us.
-- John Quinn, MusicWeb International
Bach, J.S.: Alles Mit Gott Und Nichts Ohn' Ihm, Bwv 1127 / C
Handel, G.F.: Vocal Music (The Italian Years)
Bach: Cantatas Vol 14 / Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists
Cantata 91, from the year of chorale cantatas, imbues Luther’s Christmas hymn, Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, with a feeling of anticipation and exhilaration unusual even for Bach. Budding excitement in the opening chorus finally erupts in striking syncopations. The final chorale is enhanced by fanfare-like expressions from the brass. Another chorale cantata is BWV 121, based on Christum wir sollen loben schon. It begins with a more subdued choral movement, but a joyful air is introduced by the subsequent tenor aria and reinforced by a jaunty aria for bass. Cantata 40 does not belong to the chorale-cantata cycle, but three of the seven movements after the opening chorale fantasia are straightforward chorale settings. Most resplendent of these four cantatas is No. 110, which opens with a choral re-make of the third movement of the Fourth Orchestral Suite.
Gardiner’s preface again reminds us that the Cantata Pilgrimage was not undertaken as a recording project; the recordings are fortuitous by-products of the Pilgrimage. The concert captured on this disc, which took place in New York City on Christmas Day, 2000, was the third-to-last in the whole enterprise. One might reasonably have excused any evidence of fatigue at that point, but there is none in evidence; rather, the energy generated by the performances is quite extraordinary. For listeners who wish to sample the series before committing themselves to it, this single disc may provide an auspicious starting point. Most enthusiastically recommended.
Incidentally, in reviewing earlier releases from the Pilgrimage, I noted the sterling attendance record of violist Colin Kitching. A letter from Clifford Bartlett of Early Music Review noted that Kitching is the Monteverdi Choir’s librarian. But, alas! He didn’t make it to the Big Apple, so Sir John will be the only person to have participated in every one of the Pilgrimage recordings.
FANFARE: George Chien
Monteverdi: Vespers 1610 / Butt, Dunedin Consort
The result is a ‘chamber’ version in which clarity of detail and the beauty of individual voices (recorded fairly closely and in many places clearly recognisable) provide an alternative to the grand gestures and bold colours of other more monumental performances. It also allows for plenty of attention to text, not just in the solo motets but in the larger psalm-settings as well.
The sound is first-rate as ever from Linn, with a sampled Italian chest organ discreetly adding warmth and incisiveness. With so many Vespers recordings out there, this one joins the ranks of those with both a character of its own and something to say.
– Gramophone
The Sixteen Edition - Bright Orb Of Harmony - Purcell, Macmillan
2009 is a year of anniversaries - the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Henry Purcell's birth (1659), James MacMillan's fiftieth birthday (16 July 2009) and The Sixteen's thirtieth anniversary. To celebrate, the ensemble has recorded live a brand new disc of music dedicated to these most innovative of British composers. Purcell's extraordinary use of harmony sounds as modern today as it must have sounded in the seventeenth century. Putting his heartfelt Funeral Sentences alongside James MacMillan's powerfully emotive A Child's Prayer, written in memory of the Dunblane Tragedy, and his hauntingly beautiful O bone Jesu (a piece originally commissioned by The Sixteen) will give the listener the chance to experience the true power of this music. The Sixteen's national Choral Pilgrimage will take this wonderful programme to twenty venues throughout England, Scotland and Wales over the next nine months performing to thousands of people. "Christopher's choir, The Sixteen, is arguably the most visible professional choral ensemble in Britain" The Times (London)
Vivaldi: Gloria; Bach: Magnificat / The Sixteen
James Manheim, All Music Guide
Sei Solo
Bach: The Sonatas for Violin & Harpsichord / Pine, Vinikour
Violinist Rachel Barton Pine and harpsichordist Jory Vinikour, critically acclaimed artists of interntional renown- and also close friends- record together for the first time on this album of J.S. Bach’s complete sonatas for violin and harpsichord. The artists approach these works as Bach intended: as trio sonatas with equally important roles for the violin and the harpsichord’s treble and bass lines. In addition to the six Sonatas, the album offers the remarkable and ravishingly poetic Cantabile, BWV 1019a, a free-standing work that Bach originally conceived as a movement of the Sonata, BWV 1019. Cedille’s audiophile engineering and the intimate acoustics of Evanston, Illinois’s Nichols Hall allow the complex trio textures to blossom with detail. In all, the album sets a new standard for a body of work that Bach’s son, CPE, considered among his father’s finest compositions. Rachel Barton Pine is a Billboard chart-topping artist. Her 2016 album ‘Testament,’ comprising JS Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin entered the Billboard Classical Chart in the No. 1 position, as did her 2013 Cedille album ‘Violin Lullabies.’ Making his Cedille label debut, Vinikour received Grammy Award nominations in the category of Best Solo Instrumental Recording for his 2013 album of modern American music for harpsichord and his 2012 release of Rameau’s complete harpsichord works.
Housewives' Choice: Hits of the 50s
Bach: Cantatas Vol 28 / Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists
Recorded in the City of London in 2012, this album features the missing cantatas from the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage: the Ascension Cantatas were the only ones left unrecorded in 2000, due to noise issues. They were recorded live at St Giles Cripplegate (one of our original Pilgrimage venues) in two concerts entirely funded by the generosity of hundred of donors across the world, following a heartfelt appeal from comedian Alexander Armstrong. The quartet of soloists include one of the original Pilgrimage soloists, bass Dietrich Henschel, alongside a new generation of Bach interpreters who have worked with the ensembles since 2000 – making this recording a "bridge" between a Bach tradition started 13 years ago and today. - The Monteverdi Choir
Handel, G.F.: Solomon [Oratorio] (Sung in German)
Bach, J.S.: Cantatas, Vol. 19 - Bwv 37, 86, 104, 166
Bach: Suites & Concertos / Jaap Ter Linden, Arion
BACH Orchestral Suite No. 1. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. Concerto for Flute, Violin, and Harpsichord, “Triple Concerto.” Concerto for 2 Harpsichords in C • Jaap ter Linden, cond; Claire Guimond (fl); Chantal Rémillard (vn); Hank Knox (hpd); Luc Beauséjour (hpd); Arion (period instruments) • EARLY-MUSIC .COM 7753 (78:12)
Based in Montreal, the Arion baroque orchestra was founded in 1981 by Claire Guimond, Chantal Rémillard, Hank Knox, and gambist Betsy MacMillan, the only founder not featured on this recording. Claire Guimond is their conductor, but habitually they have imported key figures to lead their group, in this case Jaap ter Linden. At first I wondered why this particular grouping of Bach orchestral pieces: they seem to have been chosen to feature the group’s founders. They are a talented bunch. Listening to the Fifth Brandenburg , which I first heard under Alfred Busch, I am impressed by the not-so-inevitable zest of the band, and by Hank Knox’s dramatic harpsichord playing. They don’t linger over the movement marked Affettuoso: here I think other recordings, such as the Pinnock, are preferable. And I have to confess that the First Orchestral Suite is not my favorite. Yet this is stylish Bach playing on early instruments, recorded exquisitely in 2001 and reissued here. I still admire Marriner’s orchestral suites, the Busch Brandenburg Concertos (as well as Pinnock, Marriner, and others). This recording, though, is a wholly pleasing modern recording of a unique collection of Bach’s music.
FANFARE: Michael Ullman
Bach: Cantatas Vol 12 / Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner, The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists performed both of these programmes in England: at All Saints church in Tooting and at Winchester Cathedral, in November 2000.
The soloists include James Gilchrist, Peter Harvey and Joanne Lunn.
The highlight of this album is Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (“Sleepers, wake”) - one of Bach’s best known cantatas, and one that has long been part of the Monteverdi Choir’s repertoire. It is described as “a cantata without weaknesses, without a dull bar, technically, emotionally and spiritually of the highest order”.
Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht (“I, wretched man, I slave to sin”) is Bach’s only cantata for solo tenor still in existence. It is sung movingly by James Gilchrist.
Of three cantatas on the parable of the unjust steward (BWV 55, 89, 115), Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit (“Prepare yourself, my soul”) is considered to stand out for its subtle instrumental writing and spellbinding arias, which evoke the yearning of the soul for divine mercy.
The recording in Tooting (CD1) is the only one in the whole series that wasn’t recorded live: the original concert took place in Eton chapel, right under the Heathrow airport flight path, so we had to try and recreate the same conditions in a quieter place.
This album is packaged with a separate index sheet of the Cantata series.
Bach, J.S.: Cantatas, Vol. 4 (Gardiner)
SCARLATTI, D.: Harpsichord Sonatas, Vol. 2
Vivaldi, A.: Concertos - Rv 104, 106, 108, 428, 433, 441, 44
Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV 232
Trio Sonatas in 18th-Century Italy / London Baroque
Glenn Gould Anniversary Edition - Bach: Partitas No 1, 2 & 3
Glenn Gould Anniversary Edition - Bach: Piano Concertos Vol 1
Bach: Arias BWV 21, 51, 53, 82, 199, 244, 248
Bach: Cantatas Vol 27 / Suzuki, Rydén, Bertin, Kooij, Türk
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
The Musical Treasures of Leufsta Bruk Vol 2 / Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble
In the 18th century, Leufsta Bruk - some 140 kilometres northwest of Stockholm - was the centre of a major industry producing iron both for Swedish needs and for export. It was a little principality in the middle of the forest governed by the descendants of Louis De Geer, the Belgian financier who had developed the ironworks. Highly cultured and musical, the family gathered together a remarkable collection of musical scores, a collection which mirrors the development of music and music publishing on the Continent, as well as the musical activities at a flourishing Swedish manor of the period. Presenting a sample from the Leufsta collection, this disc contains music by international stars - Tartini and Handel - as well as less familiar names, such as the London-based German composer Gottfried Keller and the Swedish composers Johan Helmich Roman and Hinrich Philip Johnsen. Concertos, keyboard solos, sonatas and duets bear testament to the entertainments - often with the active participation of members of the De Geer family themselves - that enlivened the evenings at Leufsta in the mid-18th century. The programme closes with music that has a special connection to the church of Leufsta Bruk and its famous organ from 1728: excerpts from Johnsen's Church Music, composed for the Easter Day service of 1757. Bringing these musical treasures to life is the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, whose many recordings on BIS have created a following around the world. Released in 1985 their version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with soloist Nils-Erik Sparf, is still considered one of the classic recordings of this work. More recently the forerunner of the present disc (Musical Treasures of Leufsta Bruk I, BIS-CD-1526) was described as a 'superbly performed ... unique collection of pieces demonstrating an eclectic and aristocratic taste of the early 18th century' by the reviewer on the website MusicWeb International. !
Mattheson:12 Suites For Harpsichord
Bach: Goldberg Variations / Kato
BACH Goldberg Variations • Sachiko Kato (pn) • CENTAUR CRC3202 (59:15)
When this arrived in the mail, my first reaction was, “Oh no, here we go again; another Goldberg Variations by an artist I’ve never heard of before.” And after being so rattled by my grievous error regarding the matter of repeats in Daniel Pienaar’s recording, I had serious doubts about reviewing another Goldberg Variations ever again. Well, you know what they say about getting right back up on the horse after you’ve been thrown. Had I passed on this assignment out of fear, I’d have missed out on a truly extraordinary experience. For starters, forget that this is a recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations . It’s a disc you should have purely for the velvet smoothness and silken beauty of Sachiko Kato’s tone as captured by the One Soul Studios engineers in New York’s Klavierhaus Hall. This is simply one of the most gorgeous reproductions of piano sound I’ve heard on disc.
Now, of course, this is a recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations , and not being one to be burned twice, I listened to Kato’s performance with undivided attention and followed the score dutifully. Here is what I can tell you. She takes the first-half repeats of each variation, but not the second-half ones. More’s the pity, because in many of the variations’ first halves, she adds some of her own embellishments that tickled me with delight. Kato is an extremely imaginative player, and I would have loved to hear her embellishments in second-half repeats.
Beyond the matter of repeats and her own embellishments, Kato’s readings of the variations are so perfectly realized in terms of tempos, phrasing, and discovery of detail, particularly in the left hand, that one marvels at the utter naturalness and fluency of the music. Notice I said “of the music,” not of Kato’s playing, because she plays with such a sense of effortlessness and ease that it’s as if the piano is having its own joyous conversation with Bach. Listen, for example to the happy mordents and smiling trill-and-mordents in the second half of Variation 5, executed with such perfection that even at Kato’s rapid velocity, not only can you hear the difference between them, your ear can discern the number of squiggles.
I’ve long admired Angela Hewitt, Murray Perahia, András Schiff, and Craig Sheppard in this music, but Sachiko Kato’s performance is truly special, and for piano versions, I think it may now be my favorite. This wonderful Japanese-born, Los Angeles-raised, Juilliard-trained artist has yet to gain much of a presence on record—Amazon, as well as her website, lists only two previous releases, both of modern music, which Kato champions—but she performs extensively throughout the U.S. and Japan. To everyone who embraces Bach’s Goldberg Variations on piano, this deserves to be heard and is urgently recommended.
FANFARE: Jerry Dubins
Bach: Weihnachts Oratorium / Christophers, The Sixteen
The Christmas Oratorio is one of Bach's greatest masterpieces and this recording is one of The Sixteen's finest. Mark Padmore is one of today's greatest 'Evangelist's', and this recording shows him at his very best. With an ever-swelling fan-base during the busiest media-quarter for the group with radio, broadsheet and music magazine coverage that will be the envy of competitors, this vivid and passionate Christmas release really should be on many shopping lists. 'Superlative...demonstrating all The Sixteen's familiar virtues.' BBC Music Magazine
