Bach Cantatas from Oxford: can one ever have 'genug'?
One thing is clear: everyone on this recording loves every note and phrase
Here is a disc of three magnificent performances of three Bach cantatas on the Signum label. superbly recorded in Norwood, London. The Oxford Bach Soloists is directed by Tom Hammond-Davies; Nick Pritchard is the fervent tenor soloist for two of the three cantatas.
The first, Ich habe genug, might seem familiar, but is heard here as BWV 82b: the version of “Ich have genug” for tenor and flute (as opposed to the better known high voice and oboe). The music seems more tender with flute, as if a caress of the soul. The Baroque flutes is You-Wei Hu, and here's a film of the first movement:
The recitatives are as if freshly minted here, much more gripping narrations, more as if culled from one of the Bach Passions than mere linking factors that create context for the arias. Listen.to the first recitative, and how alive Henrik Persson's cello playing is in the continuo component, and how considered Donal McCann's organ contribution:
As the video interviews above suggest, “genug” has a couple of meanings: I have enough (I am replete) and I have had had enough (of this mortal coil, in this instance). Suggesting that the cantata operates on a knee-edge between the two s genius: “Schlummert ein,” that gloriously gentle plateau, is both calming and a search for calm; the final aria, “Ich freue mich auf meinen Tod” has joy, but also a relishing of dissonance and of fast melisma hat capture this dichotomy perfectly. Pritchard's vocal mobility is astonishing. It should be mentioned, too, the his musical partnership with Hu through is ideal. This is great Bach playing and, most importantly, Bach interpretation. of the highest level. here's a film of this final movement:
We already considered one other BWV 82 on Classical Explorer: a version for counter-tenor (Barnaby Smith) and oboe da caccia. That one brought in a quote from Hans Hotter's legendary recording. But of course there is Janet Baker's 1966 performance with the Bath Festival Orchestra and Yehudi Menuhin (and Michael Dobson, oboe). What a panoply of magnificence this cantata brings out in its interpreters!
Janet Baker; Bath festival Orchestra / Menuhin
Given that the catalogue of Bach's works (BWV) numbers into the thousands, it is great to have possibly Bach's earlier vocal work, Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 4). We know the cantata existed as early as 1708, although Bach used it on Easter Sunday in Leipzig in 1724 and in 1725 - the parts for those performances survived. Here it is a chance, too, for the choi to shine, and how they do. The choir consists of six sopranos, four (mixed sex) altos, four tenors, and four basses.
The choir is one of the finest I have heard, whether in the delineation of the opening chorus or in the delicious relishing of dissonance between sopranos and altos in “Den od niemand swingen kannt”:
No missing the chorale basis of this work: the chorale just keeps on a-popping up. This chorale vacation technique (inherited from Buxtehude). You can't miss it in the tenors' Versus III (Jesus Christus, Gottes Sohn):
I love the resolute and yet celebrational nature of the movement for sopranos and ears, “So feiern wir das hohe Fest”:
Finally, Bach's only cantata explicitly for tenor (as far as we know). He's a sinner (the protagonist, that is, I'm sure Nick Pritchard is fine), and the text includes a real sense of desperation, and sadness, for this “servant of sin”. Flute and oboe, laden themselves with grief, seem to share his journey (Hu again, with Mark Baigent):
The music requires much of the tenor range (Pritchard copes well with the low-lying recitative that follows the above clip). his is a remarkable cantata. The words “Erbarme dich” might be better known elsewhere in Bach's output, but how beautiful this setting, a shadowy investigation of the soul, a quiet plea, with flute, for mercy. And listen to how the sun sets too come out with the entry of the strings in the accompanied recitative that follows:
The onus falls to choir for the final chorale, an affirmation of return of the sinner into the Christian fold, and they don't disappoint. What a way to end a disc!:
As Tom Hammond-Davies puts it:
Bach, in his time, could never have envisioned his music being recorded. When we first embarked on our journey with the Oxford Bach Soloists, our focus was not on recording. We were immersed in the live experience, discovering Bach’s vocal works chronologically, in real-time. It was about living the music as all those who performed and heard it did, tracing his steps through each note and phrase.
One thing is clear: everyone on this recording loves every note and phrase of these three wondrous works.
This wonderful disc is available at Amazon here.
