Customer Reviews

Bach Edition: Ascension Oratorio BWV 11/Herregwhe et al.

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Another fine addition to Herreweghe's series of cantatas with excellent singing and crisp fine instrumental playing throughout. Mr. Herreweghe uses female singers for the soprano and alto parts, instead of the boy soloists that were used in Bach's time. Unlike some authentic performance artists, they sound distinctively feminine and full-bodied, not imitational of the "boy" sound. Of particular note is the fine trumpet playing in the chorus of both Cantata 43 and 11. Peter Kooy is my favorite Bass for Bach Cantatas and displays his art masterfully in the bass aria "Er ists, der ganz allein" along with the above mentioned trumpet.

This CD is devoted to the feast of the Ascension. Of the three works on this CD, one is an oratorio (BWV 11) and two are cantatas, but the oratorio is so short that it could have been called a cantata, and one of the cantatas (BWV 43) is so long that it could have been called an oratorio. Ultimately, however, terminology doesn't matter. Bach's sacred music is not an art for its own sake: the main determinant here is the spiritual function of the music. If Bach's approach to music wasn't functional, it would have been unthinkable for him to reuse previously written material in new works, but, as we know, Bach did so frequently. On this CD, an example of such self-borrowing is an alto aria "Ach bleibe doch" from the Ascension Oratorio (Catherine Patriasz sings it quite well). Bach reused this aria as an instrumental accompaniment to "Agnus Dei" in B-Minor Mass. The Ascension Oratorio is structured as a "historia," i.e., a narrative of an event. Christoph Pregardien is a marvelous evangelist. You should also hear him doing the evangelist on the recording of St. Matthew's Passion/Max. BWV 43 also has an interesting structure. It is based on a lengthy six-stanza poem from the scripture. Bach adds variety to the lengthy piece by alternating short arias and recitatives, binding them together by the symmetrical use of solo voices throughout the cantata. The third cantata, BWV 44, is remarkable for its opening section, which combines an AT canon with a homophonic choral line. The soloists here are very good. Christoph Pregardien and Peter Kooy are as good as they get, but the female singers, especially, Barbara Schlick, are also very competent.