J. S. BACH

 

Bach Cantatas Vol. 17

 

Cantatas for New Year’s Day

Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele II BWV 143

Jesu, nun sei gepreiset BWV 41

Herr Gott, dich loben wir BWV 16

Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm BWV 171

 

Cantatas for the Sunday after New Year

Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind BWV 153

Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid II BWV 58

 

Ruth Holton

Sally Bruce Payne 

Lucy Ballard

Charles Humphries

James Gilchrist

Peter Harvey

 

The Monteverdi Choir

The English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner

 

John Eliot Gardiner’s award-winning Bach cantata pilgrimage series on SDG. Volume 17 was recorded in January 2000 within the grand neo-Gothic Gethsemanekirche in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. The programme features Cantatas for New Year’s Day and for the Sunday after New Year. In contrast to the modest BWV 143 Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele II that opens the programme, Bach begins BWV 41 Jesu, nun sei gepreiset with the fantastically grand opening chorus, Jesu, nun sei gepreiset. The jewel in this particular cantata is the tenor aria ‘Woferne du den edlen Frieden’ (No. 4), wonderfully rich and descriptive.  BWV 171 Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm is equally magnificent as a cantata replete with emotional and thematic contrast. As the tenor (No. 4) pleads for salvation in BWV 153 Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind, crying ‘…help, Helper, help! Save my soul!’ we are reminded that our afflictions have been heard as the alto (No. 8) sings of the ‘blessed rapture and eternal joy’ of heaven.  BWV 58 Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid II continues this theme of the beleaguered Christian. This is beautifully illustrated through the use of the distressed, persecuted soul (soprano) in dialogue with a guardian angel, by implication, Jesus (bass).

 

“This is Bach at a very high level – a match for anything else currently available on disc.” BBC Music Magazine

 

“The singing and playing of the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists is consistently beautiful.” The Times

 

“Once again, Gardiner’s Monteverdi Choir is the jewel in the crown of each cantata performance. Add to that Gardiner’s dramatic, electric response to music he clearly loves and you have a set that rivals his Gramophone Record of the Year Award-winning disc that launched this amazing series.” Gramophone

 

SDG 2cds SDG150