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BACH (1685-1750) Cantatas - Volume 37 Gott soll allein mein Herze haben, BWV169 (1726) [23:03] Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV170 (1726) [23:11] Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV35 (1726) [25:56] Bekennen will ich seinen Namen, BWV200 (ca.1742) [4:04]
Robin Blaze
(alto)
Bach Collegium Japan/Masaaki Suzuki
rec. September 2006, Kobe Shoin Women’s University Chapel, Japan
(BWV 35, 169, 200); August 2005, St Crucis Church, Erfurt, Germany
(BWV 170) BIS SACD1621 [77:21]
Masaaki
Suzuki’s Bach Cantata series is over the halfway mark, but if
the 60 CD tally of other sets is anything to go by there is
still a long way to go before we need to worry about cut-price
boxes. Casual purchasers may be put off a little by the idea
of a collection of solo cantatas, but this set contains some
of the richest jewels of J.S. Bach’s sacred cantatas, and the
performances are second to none.
Gott
soll allein mein Herze haben, BWV169 in
fact does have one final four-part vocal chorale, and purists
will be interested to hear that in this case it is taken one
voice to a part. These solo works further elude the arguments
over the size of Bach’s original choir however, and so shall
I. Robin Blaze has been a part of the team of soloists for
this ongoing series from the start, and his pure tones, richly
expressive and unencumbered by affectations or maddening mannerisms,
make for a voice to which I can listen for a very long time
indeed. BWV169 begins with a Sinfonia which
will strike many listeners as familiar, as it was later arranged
as part of the Harpsichord Concerto BWV1053.
Vergnügte
Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV170 has
what must be considered one of the most modern sounding movements
of Bach’s cantatas; Wie jemmern mich doch die verkehrten
Herzen. Extremely sparing, the organ plays a leading role,
with the upper strings cut loose from an absent bass and continuo,
painting brief, sketchy, minimal lines like a Paul Klee drawing,
or a repeated fragment from something by Anton Webern. The
magic of the entry of the subsequent recitative after over
eight minutes of this psychological portrayal of suffering
and lamentation is a real tingle, and the ‘happy ending’ aria Mir
ekelt mehr zu leben is a joyous affirmation of Bach’s
humanity in all of its complexity and, yes, arguably even
in its occasionally lush banality.
Geist
und Seele wird verwirret, BWV35 was
presented to Bach’s Leipzig congregation six weeks after BWV170,
and again has a leading role for the organist, in all cases
here played admirably by Masaaki Suzuki himself. One of my
reasons for an interest in this cantata is the comparison
which can be made with another recent SACD recording, that
with Sigiswald Kuijken on the Accent label. I certainly prefer the balance of the
organ in the BIS recording, which remains firmly behind the
rest of the ensemble, despite its solo character. Kuijken
has his portativo wheeled to the front on the Accent recording,
which works for the instrumental numbers, but gets in the
way seriously when accompanying the voice. As far as voices
go, Petra Noskaiová for Kuijken is very good, but a female
alto always presents a different picture to that of a male
one, and the tensions and expressive emphases come from a
different place. As a question of taste, I come down on the
side of Robin Blaze, if only for the sometimes almost choirboy
purity in his voice – Noskaiová does have the edge when it
comes to clarity when following the text. I also prefer Suzuki’s
greater liveliness in the opening Concerto and the Sinfonia of
the second part, and he shaves off around half a minute from
Kuijken’s versions. Suzuki also seems to have more fun with
the music. Take the wit you hear in the bouncy interpretation
of Gott hat alles wohlgemacht on this new recording,
and you soon find Suzuki makes Kuijken sound far too serious.
I
had never heard Bekennen will ich seinen Namen, BWV200 before,
and it is a little gem. Not in fact a cantata, it is a solo
aria which seems to have lost its original context. It was discovered
only in 1924 and published in 1935, and makes for a touching
conclusion to this set.
I
have only one real criticism of this recording, and that is
the tuning of the organ in parts of BWV 169. Have a listen
to track 5, the aria Stirb in mir, and with the best
will in the world I can only say that it is more than somewhat
flat in relationship to the rest of the orchestra. This is a
great shame, as this is one of the highlights of the entire
cantata canon, let alone this disc. I know that we’re not talking
about the kind of equal temperament which prevents us shoehorning
something like a Steinway into any historically informed performance,
but this is not what I mean. I’ve had other people listen to
this track and they all agree, even my girlfriend, who is a
fan of BonJovi and other heavy rock music. To anyone with any
kind of relative pitch sensitivity it has to be something which
jars, especially when everything else is so gorgeously produced.
The
SACD recording is a rich cornucopia of spaciousness and transparency,
well up to BIS’s usual high standards, and those of this cantata
series. Most certainly recommended, but while they are still
working on the set, perhaps I could put in for a re-take of
the bits in BWV169 which, slowly but surely, made all
of my teeth fall out one by one?
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