Masaaki Suzuki’s ongoing
J.S. Bach cantata cycle with the acclaimed
Bach Collegium Japan on BIS has reached
volume 22 and continues to go from strength
to strength. Here Bis and Masaaki deliver
three cantatas composed in 1724 from
Bach’s very early period as cantor at
the St. Thomas church in Leipzig. He
wrote almost two hundred church cantatas
that are without equal in liturgical
music. The great master’s invention
in these cantatas is so varied with
abundant technical resources, subtle
expression and penetrating insight.
For those who are not
familiar with the Bach Collegium Japan,
they are an orchestra and choir founded
by their director and keyboard player
Masaaki Suzuki in 1990. The orchestra
are renowned as Japan’s foremost period
instrument performers and strive for
authentic interpretations of baroque
sacred music specialising in the work
of J.S. Bach. For this recording Suzuki
has selected period instruments such
as the tromba da tirarsi which is a
single slide natural trumpet, the oboe
d’amore, the traverse flute and a colourful
and varied basso continuo.
Devised in two sections
the cantata No. 20, O Ewigkeit, du
Donnerwort (O eternity, thou thunderous
word) was composed for the first
Sunday after Trinity and was the start
of a series of cantatas which did not
relate principally to the gospel reading
for that day but were associated with
popular hymns. The eleven movement work
has a text mainly concerned with matters
of hell and damnation for the sinner
yet the resolute music has many really
beautiful moments. Three oboe’s, two
oboe d’amores and a tromba da tirarsi
have prominent roles in the cantata.
Particularly impressive is the Aria
(track 5) O man, save your soul…where
the three oboes, continuo and the spirited
bass soloist Peter Kooij blend together
so magnificently. Bach’s frequent use
of the tromba da tirarsi, so wonderfully
played by soloist Toshio Shimada, is
inspired and adds extra grandeur and
a real sense of ceremony to the proceedings.
The text of cantata
No.7, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan
kam (Christ our Lord came to the Jordan)
emphasises the importance of baptism
to the Christian faith and was composed
to celebrate the feast day of John the
Baptist. The baroque violins take an
important part in the score playing
a concertante role with significant
use of the oboe d’amore, all performed
most admirably by these talented players.
I have to single out the counter-tenor
Robin Blaze who is in superb voice in
his solo Aria, Mankind, believe in
this grace… (track 17). Supported
by oboe d’amores and violins his colouration
is fresh and bright in a dignified and
highly impressive performance.
Bach composed his cantata
No.94, Was frag ich nach der Welt
(What do I ask of this world) for
the ninth Sunday after Trinity. The
composer must have had the services
of a most gifted traverse flute player
at his disposal at St. Thomas’s to perform
the highly virtuosi demands of the part
which is splendidly executed by soloist
Kiyomi Suga. Radiant sopranoYukari Nonoshita
is remarkably successful in her only
solo aria on the release, May he
care about the blind world (track
25). I was delighted by the soprano’s
dance-like interpretation which is most
expressive and extremely uplifting.
The state-of-the-art
sound quality and the comprehensive
and vastly informative booklet notes
are a real credit to the BIS label and
put more renowned record labels to shame.
Director Suzuki and this select team
of vocalists and instrumentalists deliver
exceptional performances that would
be difficult to surpass. Highly recommended
and without reservation.
Michael Cookson
Visit the Bach
Collegium Japan webpage for reviews of other releases
in this series
Peter Kooij, bass 