MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
CD: Crotchet
Download: Classicsonline

 

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Cantatas - Vol. 39

Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, BWV 68 (1725) [14:05]
Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen, BWV 175 (1725) [14:51]
Gottlob! Nun geht das Jahr zu Ende (1725) [13:16]
Sie warden euch in den Bann tun, BWV 183 (1725) [13:46]
Ich bin ein gutter Hirt, BWV 85 (1725) [15:09]
Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Robin Blaze (counter-tenor), Gerd Türk (tenor), Peter Kooij (bass)
Bach Collegium Japan/Masaaki Suzuki
rec. February 2007, Kobe Shoin Women's University Chapel, Japan
BIS BISSACD1641 [72:42] 

 

Experience Classicsonline


As with many of the Suzuki/BCJ cantata volumes, the most impressive work is presented first.  BWV 68, first performed on 21 May 1725, opens with a richly orchestrated choral movement, based on a melody by Gottfried Vopelius (1682).  The spacious sound of the Kobe Shoin Chapel fits this expansive music perfectly.  Under Suzuki’s direction, the music positively swings and the mood is of affirmation, despite the minor key in which it was written.  The following aria was borrowed from the Hunting Cantata (BWV208), and is played at brisk pace, graced by wonderfully supple violoncello piccolo part (the invention of which is credited to Bach).  Note that Suzuki has decided to use a violoncello da spalla (or ‘shoulder cello’) in its place, and provides convincing evidence for his decision in the production notes. Its famous melody, more complex and ornamental than in its original form, is beautifully expressed by Carolyn Sampson. The positive mood is maintained in the following bass recitative and aria.  The concluding chorus takes the form of a complex and demanding double fugue in which the words of warning (against a brilliant backdrop of cornet and trombones) are hammered home: “He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already”.  This is a wonderful cantata, and I have not heard it bettered.

First performed 22 May 1725, BWV 175 starts off with a short recitative followed by a pastoral alto aria, marked by swirling recorder parts which signify the steady movement of sheep towards greener pastures.  The sense of pining finally gives way to anticipation for the imminent arrival of the true shepherd in a tenor aria (borrowed from an early Köthen cantata (BWV 173a), ably sung by Gert Türk and supported once more by the tremendous musicianship of Dmitry Badiarov on violoncello da spalla.  The declamatory bass aria (movement 6) and concluding chorale (also based on an earlier work, BWV 59) rounds off what might be considered a ‘patchwork’ cantata, and one that does not quite hang together as a unified work.  Nevertheless, the forces show it off in its best possible light.

BWV 28 (first performed on December 30, 1725) reflects on the end of the current year and looks forward to the new year.  The first movement is an energetic soprano aria, praising God for a prosperous year, but there is a certain rigidity in the playing here, and I would have welcomed more relaxed orchestral support for Carolyn Sampson’s expressive delivery.  The vocal parts in the following chorale are very well captured but the movement is again marred, this time by the rather muted brass section (cornet and three trombones), which by doubling the vocal parts evokes the character of a motet. The penultimate movement, a short duet for alto and tenor, is quite lovely – and it is a joy to hear Robin Blaze and Gerd Türk play off each other, before uniting in simultaneous declamation.   The work is rounded off with a simple choral wish for a peaceful new year.

A key movement in BWV 183 (13 May, 1725) is the tenor aria.  Bach presents a stark, spacious musical context for the text which reassures those suffering terror and persecution for following God’s command that they will ultimately receive their heavenly reward.  Suzuki directs this aria at a slow tempo, and although the foreboding nature of the message comes through very successfully, I was left wondering whether it was perhaps too languorous. However, the soprano aria is utterly gorgeous, due in no small measure to Carolyn Sampson’s astonishingly clean yet expressive delivery.  Indeed she seems to draw the orchestra to new heights, and the punchy strings and fluid oboe da caccia ring brilliantly true.

BWV 85 once again returns to the theme of Christ as the good shepherd protecting the sheep.  The first movement, a bass aria, is a rather serious affair notable primarily for the lovely oboe line.  Blaze sings well throughout this volume, but he is especially impressive in the second movement of this cantata with a relaxed performance perfectly suited to the simple message.  Carolyn Sampson once again draws us in to this work in the centrepiece chorale (movement 3), her voice gelling perfectly with the dancing oboe lines.  Pastoral tones dominate the tenor aria (movement 5), with Türk’s line supported by a rich undulating rhythm of strings and continuo.  The work ends with straightforward chorale.

Overall, when measured against the immensely impressive standard set by Suzuki and BCJ, this is a slightly disappointing volume.  However, this is due as much to the relatively uneven quality of the cantatas as the performances themselves.  There are delightful individual movements, and the entire opening cantata is particularly memorable.  I am deeply impressed with Carolyn Sampson’s contributions, and I am convinced there are very few (if any) sopranos able to challenge her in the Baroque repertoire at present.  Dmitry Badiarov also deserves special mention for his exceptional playing throughout four of the cantatas on this disc.

Peter Bright


 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.