The Hyperion disc – now re-released on Helios – of Bach cantatas
BWV 170, 54 and 169 is essentially a James Bowman show. A recording
featuring a counter-tenor so prominently still had a touch of
novelty to it when this was originally released in 1989. Now counter-tenors
are about as – maybe even more – common then altos in Bach, it
seems. Three of Bach’s four solo alto cantatas are included here;
only BWV35, Geist und Seele wird verwirret is missing.
A magnificent recording of that can be found on Sigiswald
Kuijken’s new cantata series on Accent, volume 5 – with alto Petra
Noskaiová.
Direct
competition for this disc would be Volume 37 of Masaaki Suzuki’s
BIS-cycle (with Robin Blaze) lacking BWV 54 but adding BWV 35
and the solo aria BWV 200. Also let’s not forget the single
disc re-release of Ton Koopman’s Bach bringing together the
three cantatas on the Hyperion disc. That one adds BWV 200 where
Bogna Bartosz and Andreas Scholl share the singing duties. There’s
also the Naxos disc by Helmut Müller-Brühl
with Marianne Beate Kielland in the same four works that Koopman
features.
Unfortunately I don’t have the Naxos disc, the Suzuki not yet, am separated
from my Leusink (Brilliant) box and my Koopman collection (volumes,
3, 16, and 17 of the original series contain these works). But
then, comparison with versions using an alto would be misleading
given the distinct prominence of Bowman on this recording.
His
voice, not the most tender, is beautiful in many ways, but with
a tinge of artifice and having the tonal qualities ‘characteristic’
of counter-tenor voices. It is recorded very much forward, a
bit too much so for my taste. The King’s Consort becomes a back-up
band, albeit one that performs beautifully. It is particularly
enchanting in the opening of Vergnügte Ruh’ and in the
Sinfonia of BWV 169. The latter sounds so familiar because Bach
had recycled the material - most likely originating from a now
lost oboe concerto - in the Harpsichord Concerto BWV 1053. That
said – and very faint moments of piquancy notwithstanding –
Bowman’s singing in the aria “Wiederstehe doch der Sünde” is
lovingly shaped and felt. It is a pleasure to hear. The recorded
sound from Wadham College Chapel is pleasantly resonant and
clear – with the resonance further accentuating the vocal part.
The short concluding chorale of BWV 169 is taken one-voice-per-part.
It is gorgeously sung by Gillian Fisher (who stands out a bit
among the four), Bowman, John Mark Ainsley, and Charles Pott.
The organ King uses for this recording is a humble, unintrusive
modern chamber instrument - the pitch is A=415Hz.
For
those already disinclined to counter-tenors, this is not the
disc to convert them. For them Bernarda Fink’s forthcoming release
with BWV 169 and 170 on Harmonia Mundi would seem an alluring
alto-alternative. For those who wish to hear these cantatas
with a counter-tenor, the only alternative that includes at
least two of the three works combined on this disc is the one
using the above-mentioned Robin Blaze. Judging solely from the
previous releases in the Suzuki cycle, the King/Bowman version
(durations are very similar) should be the slightly more indulgent
one.
Jens F Laurson
