For me this disc is
very definitely an example of "better
late than never". It came out in
2003 and I recall reading a number of
very enthusiastic notices at the time
but, for some reason, the disc eluded
me until a few weeks ago when I came
across a copy in a store and pounced.
These recordings have
an interesting genesis as Michael Steinberg
points out in a characteristically perceptive
and informative liner-note. In the early
1970s Craig Smith, the Director of Music
at Emmanuel Church, Boston began what
Steinberg rightly describes as "an
amazing project." Each Sunday and
feast day during the main service at
his church Smith would perform a Bach
cantata appropriate for the day. Eventually
all Bach’s surviving church cantatas
had been given at Emmanuel in their
correct liturgical context – a culmination
marked by the declaration of Bach Cantata
Week in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
by the then-Governor, Michael Dukakis.
Smith’s devoted service to Bach’s
music continues to this day in the same
way on every Sunday between September
and May (www.emmanuel-boston.org).
The soloist on this
present disc has a direct link with
that project. Smith draws his orchestra
from student and freelance players in
the Boston area. In the early 1980s,
Lorraine Hunt, as she then was, was
active as a violist in the city and
she became a member of the Emmanuel
orchestra. Subsequently she began what
turned into an international career
as a singer. How appropriate that she
should return, as it were, to her Bachian
roots to make this CD.
The coupling of the
two cantatas is particularly apposite
because some time before making the
recordings Miss Hunt Lieberson sang
these two works in staged versions directed
by Peter Sellars. As is so often the
case with work by this director, I recall
that the productions were controversial.
However, I’m sure her participation
in the dramatic stagings must have had
an effect on the way she approaches
the music itself. This may account,
in part at least, for the extraordinary
intensity with which she puts it across
here.
Cantata 199, Mein
Herze schwimmt im Blut (‘My heart
swims in blood’), comes from Bach’s
Weimar years. It dates from 1714 and
is a cantata for the eleventh Sunday
after Trinity. I can’t recall hearing
it sung by a mezzo before; it’s more
usually the preserve of sopranos in
my experience. Its structure is somewhat
unusual in that it opens with a recitative
and one, moreover, that is accompanied
by the orchestra rather than by continuo,
as, indeed, are the other recitatives.
The text graphically details the anguished
penitence of a sinner and Miss Hunt
Lieberson communicates the words with
searing, almost raw emotion – though
I must stress that this is not done
to excess. The recitative lasts for
just 2:35 but in this almost operatic
performance she displays a tremendously
wide emotional range. Then comes the
profoundly penitent aria ‘Stumme Seufzer,
stille Klagen’ for which Bach supplies
an oboe d’amore obbligato of keening
pathos. It’s superbly delivered here
by Peggy Pearson, a founding member
of the Emanuel Music orchestra, who
proves to be an admirable foil for Miss
Hunt Lieberson’s beseeching singing.
Interestingly, and rather unusually,
Bach interpolates a short passage of
recitative into this aria.
In this cantata Bach
takes us on a journey from the deep
sorrow of the opening recitative and
aria through to a joyful conclusion,
as we shall see. The second aria, ‘Tief
gebückt und voller Reue’ is, in
this scheme of things, something of
a bridge, for in it Bach begins to lighten
the mood somewhat. Michael Steinberg
felicitously describes this aria as
"an expansive and noble movement….one
in which Bach comes as close to Handel
as he ever did in his life. Great calm
reigns here, as though the singer felt
relief after the confession of her guilt."
This warm, lyrical music is balm to
the spirit and to me it expresses a
serene confidence in the mercy of God.
That comes across, not just in the singing
but also in the radiant playing that
Craig Smith draws from his string players.
After another recitative there comes
a short chorale, which is decorated
by a viola obbligato, well played here.
The concluding movement, in which the
joyful conclusion is attained, is a
short gigue, ‘Wie freudig ist mein Herz’.
Peggy Pearson’s oboe d’amore is once
again prominent. This movement has a
real spring in its step as the singer
rejoices in forgiveness and the mood
is splendidly caught by all concerned.
However, though that
performance is very fine the reading
of BWV 82 surpasses it. I have a number
of distinguished recordings of this
exquisite piece in my collection and
up to now I’d rated the EMI recordings
by Dame Janet Baker (1966) and Hans
Hotter (1950) as the most expressive
and eloquent. Miss Hunt Lieberson’s
reading joins that illustrious company.
Her performance is very different to
both - as, of course, Baker’s and Hotter’s
versions differ from each other - but
it seems to me to be on the same exalted
artistic and expressive plane.
The cantata was first
heard, in Leipzig, on the Feast of the
Purification, 2 February 1727. The text
identifies with Simeon who, at the Purification,
beheld the infant Jesus. That probably
explains why in its original version
the cantata is for solo bass. Subsequently
Bach made a version in E minor for soprano
solo. Here we have the third version,
for alto, in which Bach reverted to
the original key of C minor.
The opening aria is
one of Bach’s most memorable and beautiful
inspirations. The glorious vocal line
is immeasurably enhanced by an oboe
d’amore obbligato, which Steinberg aptly
describes as being "achingly expressive".
In this performance the singing is miraculous
and the wonderful obbligato is played
with surpassing artistry by Peggy Pearson.
In fact. I’d say that her playing here
matches that of such distinguished predecessors
on disc as Pierre Pierlot (for Fritz
Werner).
The subsequent recitative
is stylish and delivered with great,
but not overdone, feeling. At the heart
of the cantata lies the wondrous aria,
‘Schlummert ein’. In this performance
it’s ten minutes of pure magic. Miss
Hunt Lieberson presents the refrain,
which appears three times, as an intense
and intimate communion with the listener
though, rightly, she’s more outgoing
in the two intervening sections. I found
it all profoundly moving and marvelled
at the control, the dynamic range and
the all-round subtlety of her performance.
The concluding aria, ‘Ich freue mich
auf meinem Tod’, in which a happy death
is a cause for rejoicing, is a joyful
dance-like movement, with the oboe d’amore
leading the dance infectiously, and
rarely before have I felt so much in
need of the emotional release that Bach
provides in this movement after all
that has preceded it.
On the face of it just
under fifty-one minutes looks distinctly
short measure for a full price CD. Part
of me yearns for more. For example I’d
love to hear these same artists in Vergnügte
Ruh’, BWV 170. However, it was the
right artistic decision to pair the
cantatas that Peter Sellars staged and,
of course, to use the same inspirational
singer. Moreover, this CD is most emphatically
one where quality is infinitely more
important than quantity.
Craig Smith directs
the performances in a most understanding
and sympathetic way, one that bespeaks
deep knowledge of and identification
with Bach’s music. I found his pacing
of the music was splendidly judged throughout
and he obtains excellent and responsive
playing from his orchestra. The recorded
sound is first class. As I’ve indicated,
Michael Steinberg’s notes are of the
standard you would expect from him,
which is to say excellent. The German
texts and English translations are provided
and I’m delighted to report that the
typeface in the booklet is admirably
clear, something one can’t take for
granted these days. All in all, this
is a high quality product in every way.
Even now, some weeks
after first acquiring this CD I’m still
in thrall to it. Moreover, I’ve played
it to several friends, all of whom are
knowledgeable about Bach’s music and
about singing in general; without exception
they’ve shared my admiration for it.
I feel sure that most discerning Bach
lovers will have acquired this disc
a long time ago. However, if like me
you have been dilatory in adding it
to your collection I urge you to hasten
to remedy this without delay. This is,
quite simply, one of the finest Bach
discs I’ve heard in a very long time
and I don’t expect the artistic achievement
contained in these two cantata recordings
to be surpassed for some considerable
time.
I am certain that I
haven’t done adequate justice to these
exceptional performances in this review.
I hope, however, that I’ve conveyed
my enthusiasm. I can’t recommend this
marvellous disc highly enough.
John Quinn
Johan van Veen
saw this disc
from a completely different viewpoint
Loraine Hunt Lieberson (mezzo) 
