Bach: Cantatas through the Liturgical Year, Vol. 15 - Kuijken
Accent ACC 25315
Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid
Classical - Vocal
BACH, J.S.
Cantatas for the Complete Liturgical Year Vol.15
“Falsche Welt,dir trau ich nicht” BWV 52
“O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort” BWV 60
“Du Friedefurst, Herr Jesu Christ” BWV 116
“Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” BWV 140
La Petite Bande
Sigiswald Kuijken
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Review by John Broggio - December 13, 2012
This is one of those discs where you just shake your head in disbelief about how it got released.
Before dealing with the downside, first the positives. As always the singers that Kuijken engages are a delight to the ear and all phrase their lines with great musicianship as well as beauty. Kuijken and his La Petite Bande also accompany the singers with sensitivity and grace, so why the problem?
The opening number of the disc is the Sinfonia to the Cantata "Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht!" BWV 52, immediately recognisable as forming part of the Brandenburg Concertos. Here we are "treated" to a time-travel performance, where the natural horns come across from the late 1970's/early 1980's with all the opprobrium that attracted from non-HIP converts. They make no audible attempt to correct for the harmonics from which their raw (and that is the right word) notes derive. I know amateur players who can (and do) play this better, never mind the comparative masterclass that Suzuki and his players give here: Bach: Cantatas, Vol 38 - Suzuki. Quite what the players, Kuijken himself and the production team were doing at this point, we shall never know.
Because of this, I find it impossible to recommend the disc ahead of the alternative accounts from Suzuki (Bach: Cantatas, Vol 28 - Suzuki, Bach: Cantatas, Vol 52 - Suzuki in addition to the above disc) unless having "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort" BWV 60 is an essential addition to your SACD library.
Very sad.
Copyright © 2012 John Broggio and HRAudio.net
Sonics (Multichannel):
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