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5.0 out of 5 stars
Celebrate the cycle of life with Bach, December 24, 1999
This review is from: Festive Cantatas (Easter, Ascension, Advent, Christmas) (Audio CD)
The compositions collected in this set are dedicated to four Christian holidays: Easter, Ascention, Advent and Christmas. Each of the four CD's, wonderfully realized under Herreweghe's intelligent direction, focuses on one of the feasts.
CD1: - (a) Easter cantata "Erfreut euch, Ihr Herzen," originally composed as a secular work, but later adapted for the Easter celebration in Leipzig in 1724. An interesting feature of this cantata is a dialogue between fear and hope, personifying the complexity of feelings experienced in anticipation of the resurrection. (b) Easter Oratorio, also deriving from secular material and originally designated "cantata." This oratorio, opening with the beautiful instrumental Sinfonia, features a celebratory vocal interchange between the two Marys, Peter and John. SATB: Barbara Schlick, Kai Wessel, James Taylor, Peter Kooy.
CD2: - (a) Feast of the Ascention cantatas "Gott fahret auf mit Jauchzen" and "Sie werden euch in den Bann tun." The first is an unusually long cantata (could easily be called an oratorio), which is based on a six-stanza poem from the scripture - Bach varies the lengthy piece by alternating short arias and recitatives while keeping constant the combinations of solo voices. The second cantata is remarkable for its opening section combining an AT canon with a homophonic choral line, set against a chromatic continuo. (b) Ascension Oratorio, Bach's briefest oratorio. It is structured as a "historia," i.e. the narrative of the event. SATB: Barbara Schlick, Catherine Patriasz, Christoph Pregardien, Peter Kooy.
CD3: - Advent Cantatas "Schwingt freudig euch empor," and two versions of "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" (BWV 61 & 62) have each been inspired by Martin Luther's German version of the Catholic hymn Veni redemptor gentium. The gist of these cantatas is the opening of one's heart to god, symbolically expressed as the opening of doors. SATB: Sibylla Rubens, Sarah Connolly, Christoph Pregardien, Peter Kooy.
CD4: - Christmas cantatas "Das neugeborne Kindelein," "Under Mund sei voll Lachens," & "Selig ist der Mann." The first two are celebratory (the tenor aria "Ihr Gedanken" is a special treat), while the third, set out in the 17-th century form of a dialogue between Jesus and the soul (SB), is contemplative and filled with the londing for death. SATB: Vasiljka Jezovsek, Sarah Connolly, Mark Padmore, Peter Kooy.
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