Bach: Christmas Cantatas / Kevin Mallon, Aradia Ensemble
Details
- Composer
- BACH J.S.
- Artist
- Various
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Naxos
- Released
- Oct 01, 2000
- Catalog #
- 8554825
- UPC
- 636943482520
About
REVIEW:
So, the debate over how many singers and players to a part in Bach's cantatas lives on. This time, it's another vote for the Joshua Rifkin theory, a one-voice-per-part configuration primarily based on circumstantial evidence and informed deduction from surviving part books. It's an intriguing if porous theory that nevertheless satisfies curiosities and fancies of legitimate and well-intentioned musicologists and performers. Whenever this subject comes up, I only have to wonder what an investigator, with little other direct evidence, would determine to be my own performing forces if, 300 years from now he or she were to discover the contents of one of my church choir libraries! I prefer to look at the single voice to a part idea as just another way to perform music that by its nature stands up to almost any configuration of voices and/or instruments you want to throw at it. Of course you can perform Bach badly, but whether you use four voices or 40, if you sing it well, it still works.
There's no getting around the fact that many of the cantatas--as is true for the three on this disc--are dominated by solos, with only perhaps an opening chorus and closing chorale. So for these works, we're not so aware of the size of the vocal forces, and the key to performance becomes finding sensitive and competent instrumentalists and some very good solo singers. Luckily for us, we get rather formidable doses of both on this recording from the Toronto-based Aradia ensemble, a relatively new group with some personnel ties to Tafelmusik and who specialize in period instrument performance of Baroque works. In fact, the main reason to hear this recording is for the exceptional solo singing--and I do mean exceptional, especially from tenor John Tessier, countertenor Matthew White (listen to the recitative in BWV 132), and, after a slightly shaky start, soprano Teri Dunn. Dunn's aria in BWV 36, with one of those sublime violin obbligatos that only Bach could have conceived, and a melody with one of the best "hooks" ever to work its irresistible, unforgettable way into a listener's heart, is a shining example of what happens when performer and music perfectly match. It would be easy to go on about all the felicities of the singing and how much really wonderful music is packed into these three relatively short works. But you should also know that where the ensemble joins in the choruses, the balances are not exactly clean and detailed--we hear too much soprano and lots of reverberation from the spacious church of St. Mary Magdalene--one of Toronto's most famous choral venues.
The instrumental playing is first rate and is well recorded, but balances tend to work against the soloists in the full-group sections. There's also some confusion concerning the version of BWV 36 that's performed here. The liner notes say it's the Advent cantata written for performance in 1731, but that one was an expanded version of the five-movement work that appears here--and was performed a year earlier. For the performance of BWV 61, the familiar Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, conductor/violinist Kevin Mallon augments his solo forces with eight additional singers, essentially forming a ripieno chorus that is joined by the soloists in the tutti passages.
--David Vernier , ClassicsToday.com
Tracklist 18 tracks
-
1 Schwingt freudig euch empor 03:58
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Schwingt freudig euch empor
- Duration
- 03:58
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
2 Aria: Die Liebe zieht mit sanften Schritten 05:51
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Aria: Die Liebe zieht mit sanften Schritten
- Duration
- 05:51
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
3 Aria: Sei mir willkommen, werter Schatz 02:57
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Aria: Sei mir willkommen, werter Schatz
- Duration
- 02:57
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
4 Aria: Auch mit gedampften, schwachen Stimmen 08:42
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Aria: Auch mit gedampften, schwachen Stimmen
- Duration
- 08:42
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
5 Choral: Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh 01:39
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Choral: Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh
- Duration
- 01:39
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
6 Aria: Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn 05:54
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Aria: Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn
- Duration
- 05:54
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
7 Recitativo: Willst du dich Gottes Kind 02:20
- Track
- 7
- Title
- Recitativo: Willst du dich Gottes Kind
- Duration
- 02:20
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
8 Aria: Wer bist du? 02:49
- Track
- 8
- Title
- Aria: Wer bist du?
- Duration
- 02:49
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
9 Recitativo: Ich will, mein Gott 02:34
- Track
- 9
- Title
- Recitativo: Ich will, mein Gott
- Duration
- 02:34
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
10 Aria: Christi Glieder, ach bedenket 04:48
- Track
- 10
- Title
- Aria: Christi Glieder, ach bedenket
- Duration
- 04:48
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
11 Choral: Ertot uns durch deine Gute 01:09
- Track
- 11
- Title
- Choral: Ertot uns durch deine Gute
- Duration
- 01:09
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
12 Chorale, Trio and Quintet (after BWV 699 and BWV 659) 05:24
- Track
- 12
- Title
- Chorale, Trio and Quintet (after BWV 699 and BWV 659)
- Duration
- 05:24
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
13 Ouverture 02:40
- Track
- 13
- Title
- Ouverture
- Duration
- 02:40
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
14 Recitativo: Der Heiland, ist gekommen 01:17
- Track
- 14
- Title
- Recitativo: Der Heiland, ist gekommen
- Duration
- 01:17
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
15 Aria: Jesu, komm zu deiner Kirche 03:51
- Track
- 15
- Title
- Aria: Jesu, komm zu deiner Kirche
- Duration
- 03:51
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
16 Recitativo: Siehe, ich stehe vor der Tur 00:52
- Track
- 16
- Title
- Recitativo: Siehe, ich stehe vor der Tur
- Duration
- 00:52
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
17 Aria: Offne dich, mein ganzes Herze 04:29
- Track
- 17
- Title
- Aria: Offne dich, mein ganzes Herze
- Duration
- 04:29
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon
-
18 Amen: Komm du schöne Freudenkrone 01:01
- Track
- 18
- Title
- Amen: Komm du schöne Freudenkrone
- Duration
- 01:01
- Composer
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Performer
- Christopher Dawes
- Ensemble
- Aradia Ensemble
- Conductor
- Kevin Mallon