J.S. Bach: Sacred Cantatas for Alto

Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Helmut Müller-Brühl (Conductor), Cologne Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra), Harald Hoeren (Performer), Wiebke Weidanz (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Harald Hoeren, Wiebke Weidanz
• Orchestra: Cologne Chamber Orchestra
• Conductor: Helmut Müller-Brühl
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
• Audio CD (December 13, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B000A16PNU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,821 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Skillful musicianship, but ..., December 25, 2005

By 

J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: J.S. Bach: Sacred Cantatas for Alto (Audio CD)

I liked the sound of Marianne Beate Kielland's voice and musicianship in this same group's CD of the Bach B Minor Mass that came out some time ago. And I looked forward to this collection of solo alto cantatas by Bach. But I must say that I quickly tired of the sound of Ms Kielland's voice, largely because, although she handles it well, it has a white, almost hooty sound that becomes tiresome fairly quickly. At times, in fact, I could imagine I was listening to a male countertenor, not much of a recommendation in my opinion.

Still, there are some lovely things on this disc, mostly from the orchestra, the Cologne Chamber Orchestra under the direction of its long-time director, Helmut Müller-Brühl. Special mention must be made of the organist, Harald Hoeren, for his bits in 'Vernugte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust' BWV 170 where the organ comes out of the continuo group and acts rather as a solo (obbligato) instrument, and even more so in the organ-concerto-like 'Sinfonia' (overture) to 'Gott soll allein mein Herze haben' BWV 169. Also, the oboe d'amore player, Christian Hommel, deserves special mention.

No texts are provided, but they can easily be obtained by a little searching on the Internet.

So, although there is something to enjoy here, I think I won't be coming back to this disc very often.

Scott Morrison