Bach: Cantatas BWV71, 131, 106

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
"Gott!" That's how this disc begins. No overture or instrumental prelude of any kind, just a lusty C-major "Gott!" repeated three times, as trumpets, oboes, and recorders play triumphant arpeggios. Cantata No. 71, Gott ist mein König ("God is my King"), is unusual in other ways, too. It's one of the few cantatas in which Bach left clear indications about which portions of the choruses are to be sung by soloists only and which are to be sung by a small choir. Conductor Masaaki Suzuki has done well, not only with his top-notch choir and period-instrument orchestra, but also with soloists who blend beautifully with each other. The other two compositions included here are more subdued affairs. Cantata No. 131, Aus der Tiefe ("From the depths"), has a good bit of contrast (including a couple of lively choruses) for such a penitential work. Among its many wonderful moments is bass Peter Kooy in duo with the marvelous baroque oboist Marcel Ponseele while soprano Midori Suzuki floats a plaintive chorale melody above them. The gently comforting funeral cantata No. 106, often called the "Actus tragicus," is one of Bach's best-loved works; the key moment at its center, in which a strict fugue for chorus fades away to leave the pure-toned soprano Aki Yanagisawa with an a cappella call for Jesus, is breathtaking. Now, both of these cantatas have long, intricate lines, notably in their final choruses, that work better with soloists only, and they've been recorded that way more than once. But, if you're going to have a choir sing them, you probably couldn't do better than this one. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews:

You get what you pay for.......2004-12-04

In the Brandenburg Concerti, the tempo varies, trumpet volleys sound like French Horns, and the flute is off tune half the time. The harpsichordist was good but in one of the concerti, decided to enter at a different tempo than had been set by the rest of the orchestra. Since he had to play some very fast runs later, it is no surprise that he wanted to slow down the orchestra, but maybe they should have worked it out earlier. The orchestra sounds leaderless and out of sync at times. Can't find the groove. Violins are competent but playing with an orchestra that needs to practise what they are going to play a little more.

That covers the first 2 of 40 CDs. Don't know if I can bring myself to listen to the rest. Somebody who didn't know Bach would wonder what the attraction is after listening to this.

Bach 2000 Light (Without Sacred Cantatas)

Average customer rating:

Bach 2000 Light (Without Sacred Cantatas)
Various Conductors , Various Performers , and Various Ensembles
Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Minuets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Canons | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Fugues | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Inventions | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Toccatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Caprices | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Magnificats | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Passions | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Psalms | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00001IV8C
Release Date: 1999-09-21

Amazon.com

The Bach renaissance--which began in earnest in the early 19th century thanks to the efforts of Felix Mendelssohn and others--inspired an endeavor of far-reaching significance. It led to the founding of the Bach Society in 1850, with the goal of gathering and publishing the composer's complete works, and thus set into motion one of the great projects of musical scholarship. That effort has continued and been refined throughout the 20th century, ultimately influencing not only our perception of how to perform early music but fundamental ideas of musical history, evolution, and reception as well.

Teldec's mammoth Bach 2000 box set represents a kind of culmination of that original attempt to come to terms with Johann Sebastian Bach's unparalleled legacy. This set brings together performances recorded over the last several decades--a small percentage of the recordings are previously unreleased--of all the extant works determined by modern scholarship to be authentic. There are also some pieces the authorship of which is still in question and a few now deemed "inauthentic" but familiarly associated with the composer. Bach was a prodigious reviser of his compositions, and alternate versions of a particular work have been included "where the changes seemed sufficiently important," such as the glorious Magnificat. No doubt manuscripts will continue to be unearthed here and there in various archives (Bach 2000 contains, for example, the "Neumeister chorales," which were rediscovered in 1984), but the set does not represent the many fragments of music that consist of just a few bars; however, there are some reconstructions of lost concertos (such as one for three violins reconstructed by Christopher Hogwood from an extant concerto for harpsichords).

Of course a truly comprehensive recorded edition of every note Bach wrote remains a utopian impossibility--about one-third of his cantatas, for example, have not survived. Even so, the dimensions of Bach 2000 are staggering. With its 12 boxes comprising 153 CDs, the set can be compressed into fewer boxes to save shelf space yet is still about ten times as long as the Ring cycle. (It should be noted that the packaging--using thin cardboard sleeves for the CDs--is distinctively unattractive.) That adds up to just under 160 hours of music--but a lifetime of discovery. Each box (grouped according to genre) contains a booklet with excellent notes on individual works and--for all the choral works--texts and translations. Tracking indexes are useful and thorough. Also included is a profusely illustrated hardbound volume of 24 Inventions, in which journalist Wolfgang Sandberger uses the composer's biography as a peg for some enigmatic and fascinating musings on the meaning of Bach today.

The presiding philosophy behind this project and its approach to musical interpretation can be largely ascribed to Nikolaus Harnoncourt, a true musical pioneer and galvanizing force of the "period performance" movement. Harnoncourt's epoch-making recordings of the sacred cantatas (using, for instance, boy sopranos and choristers according to the practice in Bach's time) with the Concentus musicus Wien and colleague Gustav Leonhardt comprise the first four volumes here (those who already own them can turn to the Bach 2000 Light edition, which contains everything sans the cantatas). These recordings--which were not remastered for this set--have long been controversial and are notably uneven, embracing some magnificent accounts as well as others that lack fire and seem clearly underrehearsed. But Harnoncourt is one of the most fascinating conductors of our era, and his interpretations amply bear out his assertion: "I have never felt that Bach worked in a routine manner, that he repeated himself in his works." Harnoncourt--who has articulated many of his ideas in his book The Musical Dialogue--displays his gifts as a cellist in a remarkably probing performance of the Cello Suites (originally recorded in 1965) and in his concertizing for a number of chamber works. For\ the St. Matthew Passion, you get Harnoncourt's groundbreaking earlier account from 1970, while his 1986 recording of the sublime B Minor Mass is also represented here (the St. John Passion included is Harnoncourt's 1995 acount).

Other artists included are colleague Gustav Leonhardt, whose thoughtful if occasionally dry harpsichord artistry is heard in the Goldberg Variations as well as in the concertos and chamber music. The harpsichord is in fact used throughout in preference to piano for the keyboard works. Ton Koopman (himself the conductor of an ongoing complete cantata series and of the Easter Oratorio included here) performs the organ works, including some newly recorded offerings, while Il Giardino Armonico's well-known high-energy account represents the Brandenburg Concertos. Violinist Thomas Zehetmair is exceptionally compelling in the unaccompanied sonatas and partitas, and the Concentus musicus Wien--again under Harnoncourt--perform a superb Musical Offering that richly repays frequent listening.

The result of Bach 2000 as a whole is an aptly encyclopedic grappling with the infinite legacy of this most compendious of composers, whose works are on one level a summation of all the styles available to him. Bach was once thought to represent a "terminal point" (to use Albert Schweitzer's famous formulation), the end of an era; today he is at least equally recognized as a fertile source of inspiration for composers since. To be sure, individual recordings of particular works will be found to be preferable, and it would be misguided to consider Bach 2000 any kind of "final" or "definitive" word. Instead, it's an indispensable starting point that represents a monumental achievement for our own contemporary understanding of Bach. --Thomas May --This text refers to the complete edition of this title

Album Description

Volume 1, 11 Discs
Secular Cantatas App. Sacred Cantatas; 11 CDs; Koopman, Harnoncourt, Koopman, Goebel and others

Volume 2, 14 Discs
The Sacred Vocal Works Masses,Magnificat, Passions, Oratorios; 14 CDs; Harnoncourt, Koopman, Corboz and others

Volume 3, 7 Discs
The Motets, Chorales & Songs Kirnberger Chorales,Schemelli Songs, Quodlibet

Volume 4, 16 Discs
The Organ Works; 16 CDs; Ton Koopman

Volume 5, 11 Discs
The Keyboard Works (I) The Well-Tempered Clavier, English & French Suites, Partitas etc; 11 CDs; Curtis, Ross, Wilson, Ruzickova

Volume 6, 11 Discs
The Keyboard Works (II) Goldberg Variations, Toccatas, Fugues, Italian Concerto, etc; 11 CDs; Staier, Barchi, Leonhardt, von Asperen, Baumont, and others

Volume 7, 13 Discs
The Chamber Music Violin Sonatas & Partitas, Flute Sonatas, Works for Lute, Art of Fugue, Musical Offering, etc; 13 CDs; Harnoncourt, Pianca, Tachezi, Brggen, Zehetmair, and others

Tracks:

Suite In G Minor BWV 995: Prelude
Suite In G Minor BWV 995: Allemande
Suite In G Minor BWV 995: Courante
Suite In G Minor BWV 995: Sarabande
Suite In G Minor BWV 995: Gavotte I - Gavotte II en Rondeau
Suite In G Minor BWV 995: Gigue
Suite In E Minor BWV 996: Praeludio (Passagio - Presto)
Suite In E Minor BWV 996: Allemande
Suite In E Minor BWV 996: Courante
Suite In E Minor BWV 996: Sarabande
Suite In E Minor BWV 996: Bourree
Suite In E Minor BWV 996: Gigue
Suite In C Minor BWV 997: Prelude
Suite In C Minor BWV 997: Fuga
Suite In C Minor BWV 997: Sarabande
Suite In C Minor BWV 997: Gigue - Double

Tracks:

Prelude, Fugue And Allegro In Flat Major BWV 998: Prelude
Prelude, Fugue And Allegro In Flat Major BWV 998: Fuga
Prelude, Fugue And Allegro In Flat Major BWV 998: Allegro
Prelude In C Minor BWV 999: For Lute
Fugue In G Minor BWV 1000: For Lute
Suite In E Major BWV 1006a: Prelude
Suite In E Major BWV 1006a: Loure
Suite In E Major BWV 1006a: Gavotte en Rondeau
Suite In E Major BWV 1006a: Menuet I
Suite In E Major BWV 1006a: Menuet II
Suite In E Major BWV 1006a: Bouree
Suite In E Major BWV 1006a: Gigue

Tracks:

Partita I In B Minor BWV 1002: Allemanda - Double
Partita I In B Minor BWV 1002: Corrente - Double (Presto)
Partita I In B Minor BWV 1002: Sarabande - Double
Partita I In B Minor BWV 1002: Tempo di Bourree
Sonata I In G Minor BWV 1001: Adagio
Sonata I In G Minor BWV 1001: Fuga (Allegro)
Sonata I In G Minor BWV 1001: Siciliana
Sonata I In G Minor BWV 1001: Presto
Sonata II In A Minor BWV 1003: Grave
Sonata II In A Minor BWV 1003: Fuga
Sonata II In A Minor BWV 1003: Andante
Sonata II In A Minor BWV 1003: Allegro

Tracks:

Partita II In D Minor BWV 1004: Allemande
Partita II In D Minor BWV 1004: Courente
Partita II In D Minor BWV 1004: Sarabande
Partita II In D Minor BWV 1004: Giga
Partita II In D Minor BWV 1004: Ciaccona
Sonata III In C Major BWV 1005: Adagio
Sonata III In C Major BWV 1005: Fuga
Sonata III In C Major BWV 1005: Largo
Sonata III In C Major BWV 1005: Allegro Assai
Partita III In E Major BWV 1006: Preludio
Partita III In E Major BWV 1006: Loure
Partita III In E Major BWV 1006: Gavotte enRondeau
Partita III In E Major BWV 1006: Menuet I - Menuet II
Partita III In E Major BWV 1006: Bouree
Partita III In E Major BWV 1006: Gigue

Tracks:

Suite No. 1 In G Major BWV 1007: Prelude
Suite No. 1 In G Major BWV 1007: Allemande
Suite No. 1 In G Major BWV 1007: Courante
Suite No. 1 In G Major BWV 1007: Sarabande
Suite No. 1 In G Major BWV 1007: Menuet I
Suite No. 1 In G Major BWV 1007: Menuet II
Suite No. 1 In G Major BWV 1007: Gigue
Suite No. 2 In D Minor BWV 1008: Prelude
Suite No. 2 In D Minor BWV 1008: Allemande
Suite No. 2 In D Minor BWV 1008: Courante
Suite No. 2 In D Minor BWV 1008: Sarabande
Suite No. 2 In D Minor BWV 1008: Menuet I
Suite No. 2 In D Minor BWV 1008: Menuet II
Suite No. 2 In D Minor BWV 1008: Gigue
Suite No. 3 In C Major BWV 1009: Prelude
Suite No. 3 In C Major BWV 1009: Allemande
Suite No. 3 In C Major BWV 1009: Courante
Suite No. 3 In C Major BWV 1009: Sarabande
Suite No. 3 In C Major BWV 1009: Bourree I
Suite No. 3 In C Major BWV 1009: Bourree II
Suite No. 3 In C Major BWV 1009: Gigue

Tracks:

Suite No. 4 In E Flat Major BWV 1010: Prelude
Suite No. 4 In E Flat Major BWV 1010: Allemande
Suite No. 4 In E Flat Major BWV 1010: Courante
Suite No. 4 In E Flat Major BWV 1010: Sarabande
Suite No. 4 In E Flat Major BWV 1010: Bourree I
Suite No. 4 In E Flat Major BWV 1010: Bourree II
Suite No. 4 In E Flat Major BWV 1010: Gigue
Suite No. 5 In C Minor BWV 1011: Prelude
Suite No. 5 In C Minor BWV 1011: Allemande
Suite No. 5 In C Minor BWV 1011: Courante
Suite No. 5 In C Minor BWV 1011: Sarabande
Suite No. 5 In C Minor BWV 1011: Gavotte I
Suite No. 5 In C Minor BWV 1011: Gavotte II
Suite No. 5 In C Minor BWV 1011: Gigue
Suite No. 6 In D Major BWV 1012: Prelude
Suite No. 6 In D Major BWV 1012: Allemande
Suite No. 6 In D Major BWV 1012: Courante
Suite No. 6 In D Major BWV 1012: Sarabande
Suite No. 6 In D Major BWV 1012: Gavotte I
Suite No. 6 In D Major BWV 1012: Gavotte I
Suite No. 6 In D Major BWV 1012: Gigue

Tracks:

Sonata In B Minor BWV 1014: Adagio
Sonata In B Minor BWV 1014: Allegro
Sonata In B Minor BWV 1014: Andante
Sonata In B Minor BWV 1014: Allegro
Sonata In A Major BWV 1015: [Adagio]
Sonata In A Major BWV 1015: Allegro
Sonata In A Major BWV 1015: Andante un poco
Sonata In A Major BWV 1015: Presto
Sonata In E Major BWV 1016: Adagio
Sonata In E Major BWV 1016: Allegro
Sonata In E Major BWV 1016: Adagio ma non tanto
Sonata In E Major BWV 1016: Allegro
Sonata In C Minor BWV 1017: Largo
Sonata In C Minor BWV 1017: Allegro
Sonata In C Minor BWV 1017: Adagio
Sonata In C Minor BWV 1017: Allegro
Sonata In F Minor BWV 1018: [Lamento]
Sonata In F Minor BWV 1018: Allegro
Sonata In F Minor BWV 1018: Adagio
Sonata In F Minor BWV 1018: Vivace

Tracks:

Sonata In G Major BWV 1019: Allegro
Sonata In G Major BWV 1019: Largo
Sonata In G Major BWV 1019: Allegro
Sonata In G Major BWV 1019: Adagio
Sonata In G Major BWV 1019: Allegro
Sonata In G Major BWV 1019a: Adagio
Sonata In G Major BWV 1019a: Cantabile, ma un poco adagio
Sonata In G Major BWV 1019a: [harpsichord solo]
Sonata In G Major BWV 1019a: Violino solo e Basso I'accompagnato (Violin Part Reconstructed After Partita BWV 830)
Sonata In G Major BWV 1021: Adagio
Sonata In G Major BWV 1021: Vivace
Sonata In G Major BWV 1021: Largo
Sonata In G Major BWV 1021: Presto
Sonata In E Minor BWV 1023: [Prelude] - Adagio ma non troppo
Sonata In E Minor BWV 1023: Allemanda
Sonata In E Minor BWV 1023: Gigue