Customer Reviews

Christine Schafer Bach - Wedding Cantatas / Musica Antiqua Koln / Reinhard Goebel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is how it is. Christine Schäfer should not sing early music. Bach is not her thing (neither is Mozart by the way). There is a huge contrast between the oustanding ensemble and the actual solo artist of the record. Her constant and sometimes hysteric vibrato is not really appropriate and she has no sense of phrasing. Christine Schäfer is a great singer but she should focus more on romantic music and leave the earlier works to those who understands how to perform it.

I'm one of MAK's biggest fans. And BWV 51 is one of my favorite Bach cantatas. Before I listened to the record, I was disappointed with the package. It's not on Archiv, but DG. The packaging and pictures are silly. Why this presentation? The little heart inside holding the disc? Why spend so much money to market the CD like this? Does Schäfer have a following from elswhere where this packaing would appeal?

The music is made up of three cantatas by Bach - perhaps not all his best, but there is good variety here. The recording quality is good. The instrumental ensemble, and tempi are all excellent. The singing, however, is a mixed bag. In faster movements, Schäfer is not bad; she's got a strong voice and a silvery tone. Yet, in slower movements a characteristically-non-baroque sound comes from her mouth. Goebel has a habit of collaborating with vocalists and not telling them a thing on how to perform... it's like the ensemble and singer came together which each their own ideas on how to perform the works.

This isn't a bad CD, but is not my favorite. At times Schäfer grabs for some high notes and is out of tune; the athletic BWV 51 however, is better done without these errors.

Yeah, yeah, I know... that line comes from Handel, not Bach. But I have two mysteries I'm trying to solve. The first, the one that brought me reluctantly back to this old recording, is the mystery of why Reinhard Goebel and Musica Antiqua Köln never seriously recorded any of the cantatas of JS Bach! MAK's recordings of cantatas by Johann David Heinichen and other peers of Bach are so superb -- so ears-and-tail better than anybody else's -- that I would sell my soul (Goebel presumably sold his long ago, for his phenomenal violin virtuosity) to have a batch of the best Bach by MAK.

The second mystery is why anybody ever supposed that Christine Schäfer was a concert-worthy singer, compounded by the wonderment of why Reinhard Goebel would have collaborated with her on his only recording of Bach cantatas! She's awful! Her voice is wiry and uneven, her tuning is iffy, and her vibrato is scary! Her recording of Mozart arias isn't a whit better, and her performance on DVD as Lulu in Berg's opera is just plain nasty. If Ms Schäfer weren't already rather inexplicably well known, I'd advise her not to give up her day job.

A friend of mine recently performed this cantata. In the run-up the actual performance I listened to this recording and found it to be the best I have ever heard. The interpretation as a whole may not be to many people's liking, but I found to be spontaneous and lively, especially with the use of timpani. Schafer acquits herself with distinction , especially in Cantata 51

I do not know Schaefer's other Bach recordings (mostly with Rilling), but this disc does not encourage me to further explorations. I was enchanted with her Schumann recital for Hyperion and her small contribution to the Hyperion Schubert Edition was also quite memorable, but Bach is a different matter. I can agree with the reviewer from Israel that this is Bach for experienced listeners, but I am afraid that it is not this kind of listeners that Deutsche Grammophon had in mind while preparing this release. It seems to be designed as a wedding present, a small, symbolic wedding present that anybody can afford. I won't comment on the silly pictures inside, but happily the juicy green cover hides a little more than that and an attentive listener/reader can find a decent essay by Goebel himself. As to the music as performed by Schaefer, I totally agree with the reviewer from Sweden - this music is not suited for this singer. I listened to this disc many times, trying to convince myself that I am probably missing something, that if I listen more carefuly, I will find everything that makes an unforgettable intepretation. I did not find much, though in some of the recitativi there was a lot to enjoy in her clear and simple narration. But her singing is too earthbound! It lacks gentleness and the voice itself seems to me too strong, to "operatic". To sum up - do not buy this disc as a wedding present only because it was designed and advertised as such. There are many recordings of these cantatas, maybe not as effectively packaged, but with more approachable and lovable interpretations (try Emma Kirkby). If you want to buy it for yourself, listen to the audio-samples first. This is Bach's singing not to everybody's taste!

What a delight it has been to listen to this recording after fortuitously seeing part of its contents cleverly and imaginatively made into a short video shown in the Classic Arts Showcase cable network. The clip is only the aria Sich üben im Lieben, from the Kantata BWV202. Bach was German, the lyrics are in German, and Musica Antiqua Köln plays in original instruments from the epoque. The result is a perfect diction of the work, both, lyrically speaking by Christine Schäfer, and musically speaking by Musica Antiqua Köln. I was first introduced to BWV202 by Karl Richter and Maria Stader, which was the standard for this work in my mind. At first I thought Reinhard Goebel had accelerated the tempo a little bit, but this is Bach, a man so busy that it would take a full time transcriber to hand write his known musical work 78 years by today's standards! So, yes, perhaps his tempo deserves to be a little fast. Music lovers end up with several versions of the same works, it helps us to keep out of frames, to be open, and, what worth would it be if new works were only copies of a previous one? So, if you are new to these works, or to Bach Kantaten at all, go and buy this recording. It's a great introduction, and this will be your standard to measure all other versions. I happily foresee a continued collaboration between Christine Schäfer and Reinhard Goebel, I am only hoping they will put out more Bach Kantaten soon. Also, I found nothing wrong with the package, it's very informative, and the lyrics are printed in French, German and English, so you can sing along with your mind's voice. Its lime color made it very easy to find at the record store, as well as in my CD library, though it has not spent much time there... Thanks.

I have several Bach Cantata CD's, but this is the one I listen to most often. So often we get these dry Bach CD's that are just random Cantatas packaged together with no central theme. But here- Christine Schafer has chosen three that have common themes- Love and Marriage. I have to admit- what first drew me to this CD was the green package. I was absolutely memorized right from first glance. Once I saw it was the great Soprano Christine Schafer singing, I had to buy it! Of the three Cantatas represented, 210 is the best. I was not familiar with this Cantata before this CD, but now it has become my favorite!

The performances on the CD are top notch too. Schafer's light pure Soprano is perfectly for these Cantatas. Musica Antiqua Koln is one of THE best smaller Baroque Bands i've heard. The tempi are a tad on the fast side, but for Schafer's voice- faster is better.

The packaging, as I said before, is absolutely beautiful and cute at the same time. Be prepared to feel a little sappy at the silhouetted pictures of Schafer and a man. I laughed.

Highly recommended!

It might not be what you expect. It comes inside a little kitschy Digipack, with romantic, pop-style artwork. However, the music is quite the opposite - fast-paced, spiky, avant-guard playing. I find it a delight to listen to a CD so different from what we are used to hear from today's baroque ensembles. I'd recommend it only to experienced Bach listeners.