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]

The astonishing variety of Bach’s cantatas is brilliantly illustrated by these CDs. Vol. 12 of Masaaki Suzuki’s ongoing cycle features a pair of extended, two-part cantatas: BWV 147, best-known for its lovely chorale (aka ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’), and BWV 21, described by Nicholas Anderson as having ‘a dramatic intensity hardly inferior... to that of the two great Passions’. Both cantatas have their origins in Bach’s Weimar period but are presented here in their later, Leipzig versions.

As is to be expected from Suzuki, the performances are meticulous and sensitive, and he brings out each cantata’s different emotional character with quiet authority. BWV 21 is particularly impressive, his team breathing vivid life into Bach’s portrayal of the Soul’s journey from darkest night to heavenly bliss. In contrast to this spiritual introspection, Philippe Herreweghe’s excellent disc features three cantatas Bach wrote for the annual inauguration of the Leipzig town council. This is public-event music, ablaze with ceremonial splendour: the earliest cantata, 1723’s BWV 119, begins with a French overture and is among the most richly scored of all the cantatas. The other two follow suit, jubilant choruses and brass fanfares proclaiming civic pride, though Bach takes care to balance this pomp with more delicate colours in the arias. Funeral music, yet another facet of the Cantor’s output, is explored on John Eliot Gardiner’s newly reissued 1989 recording. The deft vocal interweavings of the Actus tragicus and the Trauer Ode’s lavish salute to the Electress Christiane are adeptly handled by Gardiner, whose (relatively) small forces give the music a rapt, devotional air. In this company, Stephen Cleobury’s King’s College double seems lacklustre. The programme, which mixes major works with miniatures and extracts, is cluttered, the latter pieces merely distractions. Performances, while good, rarely match the precisely focused, sharply etched flair so evident on the Herreweghe and Suzuki discs. Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- BBC Music Magazine