Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Cantatas for the Complete Liturgical Year Vol.11:-
"Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen" BWV 12 [13:05]
"Halt in Gedächtnis Jesum Christ" BWV 67 [16:59]
"Ich bin ein guter Hirt" BWV 85 [25:26]
Gerinde Sämann (soprano); Petra Noskaiová (alto); Christoph Genz (tenor);
Jan Van Crabben (baritone); La Petite Bande/Sigiswald Kuijken
rec. 27–28 April 2008, Rosario, Bever, Belgium. Stereo/Surround. DDD/DSD
ACCENT ACC 25311 [55:30]
Oh dear. Sigiswald Kuijken appears to have taken a wrong turn on the latest
leg of his Bach cantata pilgrimage. Listeners, like myself, who warm to Kuijken's
relaxed, period performance approach, are going to get a shock when they put
this disc on. The opening chorus of "Halt im Gedächnis" BWV 67 is
a car crash of epic proportions. The main culprits, I think, are the strings,
whose tuning is at about junior school orchestra standard. The winds aren't
as bad, but they are close.
Somehow, the vocal soloists manage to hold it together over all this, but
later on in the cantata they too come to grief. Things settle down a bit in
the middle movements, but then the strings come to the fore again, in the
penultimate movement, the aria "Friede sei mit euch", and we are
right back to square one.
So what's going on here? This is only the second instalment of the cycle I
have heard, but the ensemble managed to keep it together in volume 10. In
fact, in that previous release, Kuijken was able to turn the ensemble problems
to his advantage, creating a sense of informality, which to my ears is the
ideal counter to the almost clinical precision of the Suzuki cycle, which
we should probably consider the main competition. But in volume 11 things
go from bad to worse. The string section is slightly larger, which may be
part of the problem. The majority of the orchestral players have been replaced
between the two volumes, suggesting that La Petite Band has become something
of scratch orchestra. That sort of approach is all right if you can maintain
the standards, but you have to question the wisdom of it when it leads to
such a variance between consecutive releases in a single cycle.
To be fair, the second and third cantatas on the disc BWV 85 and 12 escape
the worst of these problems, although they never completely disappear. It
is an unfortunate consequence of the liturgical calendar approach that Kuijken
is obliged to place BWV 67 first; in any other context there would be the
option of salting it away at the end, or even omitting it altogether.
There are a few highlights in the second and third cantatas that are worthy
of mention. The second aria of BWV 85 "Jesus ist ein guter Hirt"
features Kuijken on cello da spalla as the obbligato. He is a big advocate
of the shoulder cello, so it is interesting to hear him perform on it. Sadly,
again, there are tuning problems throughout, which could be attributed to
the physical problems of playing a cello under your chin, were it not for
Dmitry Badiarov's note perfect performances on the instrument in the Suzuki
cycle. Some nice baroque trumpet from Jean-François Madeuf (whose name has
acquired a hyphen since vol.10) in BWV 12. His nasal reedy tone is ideal for
Kuijken's intimate, chamber music approach, although he too is dogged by intonation
problems.
I remain a fan of Kuijken's Bach, and of his laid back leadership, but this
disc demonstrates the dangers of the approach. Once was the time that the
use of period instruments excused problems of intonation and even of ensemble,
but not anymore. In fairness, every Bach cantata cycle has its less successful
moments; the sheer quantity of music tests the rehearsal capacity of even
the hardest working ensembles. I'm still looking forward to the last ten volumes
of this edition. Kuijken and his ever-changing forces have had a bad couple
of days in front of the microphones, but they are certainly capable of far
better things than this.
Gavin Dixon
Kuijken and his ever-changing forces are certainly capable of far better things
than this