Customer Reviews

Bach Cantatas / Matthias Gorne - Albrecht Mayer · Camerata Academia Salzburg · Sir Roger Norrington

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It seems that a decent baritone can be found nearly anywhere nowadays, but a truly magnificent one is a rare phenomenon. That's why it is such a joy to discover this disc of Matthias Goerne singing three of Bach's solo cantatas for bass. Simply put, this is the best recording of these cantatas that I have ever heard.

Mr. Goerne combines a really beautiful voice (his opening phrase in "Ich habe genug" will make your heart stop) with intelligent, subtle word-pointing (not suprising, being a student of both Fischer-Dieskau and Schwarzkopf). His singing is both poignantly human and reverently spiritual, exactly right for this music, which is some of Bach's finest.

Sir Roger Norrington conducts with an unerring sense of line and phrasing, and Camerata Academica Salzburg play with a warmth and transparency that is wholly engaging. Special mention must be made of oboist Albrecht Mayer's haunting solo lines in BWV 82, the best I've heard them played.

If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Goerne, I strongly urge you to hear this disc for yourself and succumb to the artistry of one of the finest young baritones in classical music today.

On the evidence of recent CDs I've encountered, the musical world seems to be in the midst of a renaissance of superbly trained lower male voices. Matthias Goerne is yet another notable singer who has, at least so far, concentrated on the oratorio and song repertory. The current disc includes familiar solo cantatas, particularly #82, with its beautiful lullaby "Schlummert ein," and less familiar music, all nobly sung and expressively enunciated. Goerne's facility with the frequent florid passagework in the arias is particularly impressive. Accompaniments throughout are expertly played as well. I'm certainly looking forward to hearing more from this performer.

This is the most beautiful rendition of three of Bach's solo cantatas I have ever heard. Immediately the beginning of the cantata "Ich habe genug," is a rare spiritual experience. This is the aria of the same title, first beautifully intoned by the oboe, then sung by Goerne the way Bach schould be sung. He has not only a beautiful voice and a diction of German which is as clear as it is warm, but, most important, he has the "Innigkeit" that is so characteristic of Bach's religious music. There are so many beautiful moments on this record, that I find it hard to name the most beautiful one. but when I am pressed, I would say it is the aria "Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen," (Slumber now, you weary eyes). It is sublime. It is a high point of european music. A great musical accomplishment by all, including conductor Sir Roger Norrington. Please, give us more such treats.

This is a marvellous Bach CD - what a great recording for the year 2000! Goerne is an outstanding Lieder singer with a wonderful, warm voice that perfectly suits Bach cantatas. If you don't know this young German artist, a student of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, this CD may be the best occassion to get acquainted with him (then you can try some of his Lieder recitals or his recording of "Winterreise" for Graham Johnson's Schubert series on Hyperion). My copy of Goerne's Bach arrived just a couple of hours ago, so I am not ready to share any extensive comments on it, but I wanted to urge everybody interested in Bach's music and in singing in general to buy this oustanding new disc. Now back to my listening!

Goerne's album of Bach Cantatas is beautiful. I just bought this album and I can't stop listening to it. His voice has great flexibility, smoothness of line, and such warmth. His diction is clear and crisp. I myself am a baritone, so I tend to be harder on the baritone voice...but I am truly in love with his voice. He is a great interpreter of lieder, and his aria albums are also very nice. I highly recommend this album to everyone!!!

Matthias Goerne has that: a great voice, a rich debonair well-focused bass-baritone that's perfectly suited to these familiar solo cantatas.

I've recently been alerted to the common perception that Goerne is NOT especially a performer of the "historically informed" sort. That derives, I think, from his (to my ears) very fine mainline recordings of Lieder by Schubert and Schumann, accompanied by pianists as 'established' as Alfred Brendel. But it seems that I'm not totally alone in hearing Goerne as a singer strongly shaped by the aesthetics of "Early Music". Roger Norrington, one of the most obdurate of the HIP school, must hear the same qualities.

Don't let affiliations mess with your enjoyment of this Bach recording. Even if you already have the same cantatas as part of your Complete Bach Edition or as sung by anyone else, I guarantee you'll be astonished by the vivid beauty of Goerne's interpretations.

Those of us who grew up with the churchy Bach of Karl Richter and the plodding reverence of Otto Klemperer (I love him, but he was very slow when the mood became religious) have been slow to adopt to the slimmed-down bach of Gardiner, Norrington, and other pioneers of the period movement. We wlecomed the lighter textures, but too often there was an absence of reverence, which is essential to capture Bach's intent.

That flaw doesnt appear here. Goerne uses his creamy baritone to deliver sensitive, inward readings of three cantatas that are, after all, melancholy and at times tragic in the face of death and suffering. The amazon reviewer is dead on to praise the absence of pomposity here--the mood is hushed and intimate throughout. The solo oboe in Ich habe genug plays gorgeously, and the sublime aria, Schlummert ein, the best-known excerpt here, moves with a lovely flow. These cantatas have drawn major artist to them, so Goerne is up against Janet Baker, Gerard Souzay, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, and Thomas quasthoff, whose abilities exceed his. But at the very least he rises to join them, providing us with one of his best CDs.

Is there a flaw in this recording? If so, someone please point it out to me. From the orchestral playing to Albrecht Mayer's sublime rendering of these haunting oboe lines to Goerne himself, this is a recording worthy of the name of BACH.
Mayer's playing is so sensitive on such a clear and vibrant instrument - I'm tempted to say it's the best oboe playing I've ever heard on Cantata 82.
Goerne... where to start? Maybe the text of Cantata 56 describes it best: "er kommt von Gottes lieber Hand." The mystery of the Incarnation, which is the subject of most of this text, could well be applied analogously to Goerne's voice. Has there ever been a voice at once so rich, creamy and dark and also so clear, flexible and vibrant? It truly is a mystery that sucha voice of such luxuriant warmth can make it through the runs required (especially in "endlich wird mein Joch") with such facility. I could go on... the legato, phrasing, the phrasing within a legato stream, it's all textbook and then some.
Artistry of the very highest order and this CD cannot be recommended highly enough. Between this recording and his Winterreise, Goerne has established himself as one of, if not the, greatest singers of German text alive today.

Having sampled a plethora of recordings of these cantatas, which I am learning, the only truly beautiful, well-produced voice I heard was Görne. Occasionally he resorted to crooning, or that mouth-produced, unresonant, straight tone that the other singers, including DF-D seem to think is super-sophisticated, but for the most part his tone was ample and direct, and his technique was long-breathed, fluent and wholly admirable. The sonics are gorgeous, the orchestra superlative.

What a superb, glorious rendition of these Bach contatas. Matthias Goerne will take your breath away with his soulful, sensitive rendering of these most exquisite contatas, especially "Ich habe ganug" and ". . . Schlummert Ein". I agree with everything the other reviewers wrote, who all also gave this recording 5 stars. Listening to his voice and the accompanying music, I was spiritually transported. This is the way Bach contatas were intended to be sung. Bravo, Matthias! Inspiring!