Newsgroups: rec.music.classical

In rec.music.classical, Marco Simionato <simion@iveuncc.unive.it> writes:

> I would like to know which are considered the best versions of Bach's
> Cantatas and if they are availbale on CD. What counts to me is not the
> excellence of the recording technique but the artistic relevance.
> Based on your responses I will buy a selection of the most significant
> Cantatas. Actually, I'd appreciate it if a good selection already
> existed, so that I wouldn't have to go on a hunt for different CD's.

> Thanks.

I asked (approximately) this question a while ago - to save peoples
energy, here's the summary of responses that I got then:

Simon.

**************

From morrow@shawm Fri Feb  7 14:56:32 1992

I personally would prefer a discussion on this subject.  I often
go out and get copies of recordings recommended by others on this
net and am quite often pleased.  It allows me to state my preferences
while hearing about others likes and dislikes.

SO:  My favourite Bach cantatas and their recordings:

1.  "Christ lag in Todesbanden" S.4 
     A choral cantata with no solos.  Short and simple.  
     -  Robert Shaw Chorale & Orchestra Robert Shaw cond.  A old
        early 60's recording (I think). I find it musically
        perfect even if the miking is too close.
     -  Tudor Singers of Montreal & Vancouver Chamber Orchestra
        Wayne Riddell cond.  This is a CBC 5000 recording. Really
        quite excellent.  The now defunct Tudor Singers were Canada's
        best in their day.

2.  "Ich armer Mensch, ich sundenknecht" S.55
    A solo cantata for tenor.  The opening aria is a killer for the
    singer; but so satisfying....
    - Peter Schreier - Leipszig Gewandhaus Orchestra Herbert Kegel cond.
      Schreier is so effortless and his diction....
    - Ernst Haefliger - Munich Bach Choir Karl Richter cond.
      A old standard from the Archiv Bach series of the 60's.  Haefliger's
      voice may not be great but I like Richter's strings.

3.  "Ich habe genug" S.82
    The ultimate solo cantata from Bach.  
    - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau - Munich Bach Orhcestra Karl Richter cond.
      I actually like this for Richter's direction even though it's one
      of DFD's better recordings.
    - Gerard Souzay - German Bach Soloists Helmut Winschermann cond.
      Souzay was always the French DFD to many people.  His version
      is wholly satisfying as his approach is lighter than the German
      DFD.
    - Rene Jacobs - Ensemble 215 Chiara Banchini cond.
      This Harmonia Mundi recording is really spectacular.  The
      countertenor is a real departure from the standard baritone
      and gives a different meaning to the music/text.  Listen to
      the organist in the sinfonia play!

4.  "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" S.140
    Probably the most popular of Bach's cantatas.  The tenor
    recitative entry is scarey for me.  I've very found of 
    the middle movement which Bach took from his "Schuebler
    Chorales" (S.645)
    - Tudor Singers of Montreal - Vancouver CHamber Orchestra
      Wayne Riddel cond.
      The companion work to S.4 above.  Really quite excellent (IMHO).
    - Suddeutcher Madrigalchor - Collegium Musicum Wolfgang
      Goennenwein cond.  Another favourite because of the intensity
      of the performance.

5.  "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" S.147
    From whence comes "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".  The opening
    chorus can be great fun but painful if your singers don't have
    a good sense of intervals.
    - King's College Choir, Cambridge / Academy of St. Martin-in
      -the-Fields.
      Only one I've ever liked. I think it's my Anglican heritage.


Only room for five.  These are, of course, my opinions solely.
There are others, naturally, in fact teh whole Harnoncourt effort
of the 70's and the Collegium Aureum's work with the Tolzer Kanbenchor
are excellent.  So excellent, that it's hard to single out any one
performance.
****************
From bwalsh@math.rutgers.edu Tue Feb 11 05:35 GMT 1992

Top 10, not in order of preference:

'Christ lag in Todesbanden', S. 4
'Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam', S. 7 (every time Bach gets near
	Baptism, all sorts of deep things happen: cf. 'Confiteor unum
	baptisma in remissionem peccatorum' in the b-minor Mass)
'Meine Seele erhebt den Herrn', S. 10
'Gleich wie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel faellt,' S.18 (where else
	on earth do the strings consist of 4-fach geteilten Bratschen?)
'Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir,' S. 29 (for the imagination-
	challenged who can't hear what is implied in the E-major
	violin partita S. 1006 8-))
'Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen,' S. 51
'Sie werden alle aus Saba kommen,' S. 62 (cf. the C-major prelude &
	fugue with related prelude subject)
'Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit,' S. 106 (depressing as it is)
"Aus der Tiefe ruf' ich Herr zu dir," S. 131 (did Bach ever write
	better obbligati than the oboe lines in this early work?)
'Schleicht, spielende Wellen und murmelt gelinde,' S. 206 (secular
	cantatas ok?)
'Preis' dein Gluekke, gesegnetes Sachsen,' S. 215.

Was that eleven?  Oh, whattthehell, it's late.  Let us prefer them all.

Bertram Walsh                   | ... Intelligible Sound ... is the
Dep't of Mathematics            | only means of achieving the four
Rutgers University              | aims of life: virtue, success, plea-
New Brunswick NJ 08903-2101     | sure, and liberation.
USA				|               Sangita-darpana I, 29.
******************
From yee@gold.cchem.berkeley.edu Mon Feb 10 05:56 GMT 1992

I don't know that much about Bach's cantatas save the two on one
recording that I can highly recommend:  the recording of the 
Trauerode (BWV 198) and Cantata BWV 78 (Jesu, der du meine Seele) by
Philippe Herreweghe and La Chapelle Royale on the Harmonia Mundi
label (HMC 901270).

Raymond Yee
*****************
From nsh3@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu Fri Feb  7 00:16 GMT 1992

I am interested in Bach cantatas as music rather than as Two Hundred
Great Works of Art, so these comments reflect a bias towards pure
lyricism.  But I will probably be the only person recommending on
this basis, so...

	1. The first thing that comes to mind is because you
were so fond of Hotter singing "Ich habe genug."  There was a 
wonderful German bass named Franz Crass, who recorded many, many
Bach cantatas (mostly for EMI) in the sixties and seventies.  He
marvellous, and very tempermentally suited to Bach.  

A performance I particularly like of his is in Cantata #106 
("Gotteszeit ist die allerbeste Zeit").  The air is called 
"Heute, heute wirst du mit mir im Paradis" and is for bass
with the choir singing a chorale accompaniment, as you have doubtless
heard Bach do before.  

In any case this is a super cantata.
Despite the high number, it is actually one of the earliest ones,
and its fluid, Buxtehude-like structure and beautiful wood flute
choir give it an antique charm which is quite lovely and unique.
Later cantatas are more structurally rigid and bulkier, larger.

Anything sung by Crass is very worthwhile, I think, especially
in Bach.  He is in a great tradition.  

	2. For just plain fun, nothing can top Cantata #51,
"Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen," for solo soprano, trumpet,
organ and continuo.  It's very well-known--one of the most
famous, but extremely festive and easy to love.  The classic
performance is by Elizabeth Schwarzkopf on EMI and is still
available on CD although it is 35 years old.  If I said this on
the net, I'd be bazooka'd, but frankly, I don't like it that
much.  Still, it's like IBM...you can't go wrong, and the other
performances I know are not stylish.

	3. The last one is an old chestnut and right in line
with the typical recommendation.  That is "Jesu der du meine
Seele," #78.  It's a very mature work and not the most
exciting, but that's only my opinion, and I don't like the Gold-
berg Variations either.

HOWEVER, the second movement is one of the most perfect
pieces Bach ever wrote.  It is a duet for two sopranos and
organ called "Wir eilen mit schwache doch entlichen Schritten
zu helfe, zu dir."  Honest.  We called it "wir eilen."  If
you don't like it, hey, I'm sorry.  In the sixties, a legendary
disk jockey in New York called Watson, once played it four
times in a row.  It was fine with me.

Nadine
nsh3@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu
*********************
From ttak@uhura.cc.rochester.edu Thu Feb  6 17:18 GMT 1992

Cantata # 51 - "Jauchzet Gott" - for soprano, trumpet and strings
Cantata # 79 - "Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild" 
Cantata # 80 - "Ein Feste Burg ist unserer Gott"
Cantata # 140 - "Wachet Auf"


Newsgroups: rec.music.classical