SACRED CANTATAS FOR ALTO AND FOR TENOR

 

J. S. Bach (1685–1750): Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35; Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht, BWV 55

Melchior Hoffmann (c. 1679–1715): Meine Seele rühmt und preist

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767): Ich weiß, daß mein Erlöser lebt

 

Marianne Beate Kielland (alto), Markus Schäfer (tenor), Cologne Bach Choir, Cologne Chamber Orchestra / Helmut Müller-Brühl

 

Intimately bound up with the Lutheran tradition, Bach’s sacred cantatas are full of a wealth of musical invention and technical mastery.

 

Remarkably Cantata No. 35 includes two instrumental Sinfonias almost transformed into organ concerto movements. In Cantata No. 55 a solo flute magically weaves itself around the vocal line. The other two cantatas on this disc, formerly attributed to Bach, are also distinctive for their delightful instrumentation.

 

Marianne Beate Kielland’s previous releases with Naxos include Bach’s Sacred Alto Cantatas: “Elegantly crafted, insightful singing from Marianne Beate Kielland, complemented by idiomatic playing from Helmut Müller-Brühl’s Cologne Chamber Orchestra, lifts this bargain release well above ordinary.” Classic fM Magazine on 8557621.

 

Kielland and Schäfer and Müller-Brühl have recently joined forces on a new recording of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, released earlier this year (8557617-19).

 

Naxos 8557615