Bach: Cantatas
Yes--as some of the customer reviews point out, this recording doesn't  come from John Eliot Gardiner's year 2000 "Bach Cantata Pilgrimage" concert  series; it's a full-price reissue of a disc made in 1989. That doesn't matter:  featuring the crackerjack Monteverdi Choir and four excellent soloists at the  height of their powers, it's definitely worth the price.The collective view of Bach's vocal music might have shifted some since 1989--it  now seems clear that Bach wrote the"Actus tragicus"and possibly even  the"Trauer-Ode"for four  soloists, instead of a small choir. To be sure, Gardiner's chorus somewhat  overwhelms the little instrumental ensemble (two recorders, two viols, and  continuo) for the "Actus tragicus," but they sing with such sensitivity that the  piece works anyway. The real treasure here, however, is "O Jesu Christ, mein's  Lebens Licht," a luminous little gem of a motet for chorus, strings, and antique  brass to which these musicians bring a winning and none-too-easy-to-achieve  combination of clarity and warmth.--Matthew Westphal