It is perhaps a measure
of the relative neglect of Buxtehude’s
vocal music that this CD should include
four pieces (BWV 8, 35, 67 and 82) which
are said to be world premiere recordings.
Of Buxtehude’s writing for the solo
voice, there is more for soprano than
for any other voice type. In early performances
of this music, those soprano voices
were presumably provided by the boys
of St. Katherine’s School in Lübeck.
Their must have been some fine singers
amongst them, given the technical demands
made by some of this music.
Barbara Christina Steude
– here making her recording debut as
a soloist – has an agile voice, with
some charm and a nice range of colours.
Just occasionally notes seem to disappear
a little quickly and there are one or
two odd fragmentations of longer phrases,
but these are minor blemishes and don’t
detract from an attractive and rewarding
programme. The instrumental forces supporting
Steude are impressive; their playing
is rhythmically sophisticated and elegant,
the sound colours various and rich without
ever being cloying.
The programme begins
with a numinous setting of verses from
Psalm 146, in which Buxtehude’s music
beautifully complements the text, without
any recourse to simple word-painting.
The Psalmist’s words are matched by
music of genuine radiance, both in the
almost ecstatic opening and in the more
sober middle section (‘Put not your
trust in princes…’). Steude’s voice
is heard at its most subtly beautiful
in such passages; in the more rhapsodic
sections she seems just a bit contained,
a little short on sheer excitement.
In ‘Herr, auf dich traue Ich’. A more
consistently meditative setting of verses
from Psalm 31, Steude is very impressive
indeed, and is beautifully complemented
by the work of the Lautten Compagney,
directed by Wolfgang Katschner. ‘O Clemens,
o mitis, o coelestis Pater’ is very
fine too.
‘Singet dem
Herrn ein neues Lied’ is one of the
more substantial works here, and one
that has had previous recordings. Emma
Kirkby’s 1996 recording, with John Holloway,
Jaap ter Linen and others was recently
reissued on Naxos (see review
by myself and review
by Mark Sealey). Kirkby’s performance
is a fraction slower, but there is both
a greater fluidity in her runs and a
more rapt sense of wonder and joy. In
both cases there is some fine solo violin
playing to be heard – from John Holloway
with Kirkby and, I presume, from Birgit
Schnurpfeil with Steude.
There is much else
to savour here – on the tercentenary
of Buxtehude’s death this is a fitting
tribute. Steude is clearly a very promising
talent and I hope we shall hear a good
deal more of her. She lets no one down
on this debut recording. The work of
her instrumental accompanists can be
given unqualified praise; indeed I find
them at least as satisfying, and in
some respects more exciting, than the
more famous accompanists who appear
with Kirkby. All in all, this makes
a valuable and thoroughly enjoyable
addition to the slowly growing library
of Buxtehude’s vocal works. This will
be boosted by Tom Koopman’s planned
Buxtehude series on Challenge Classics.
Glyn
Pursglove
for details
Barbara Christina Steude (soprano); Lautten
Compagney: Birgit Schnurpfeil, Anne von
Hoff (violin); Ulrike Paetz (viola); Ulrike
Becker (viola da gamba, violone); Annette
Reheinfurth (violone, contrabass); Christine
Tschirge (harpsichord, positive organ);
Hans-Werner Apel (theorbo, baroque guitar);
Wolfgang Katchner (theorbo) / Wolfgang
Katschner 
