It's almost impossible not to get worked up by this latest release from John Eliot Gardiner's Bach Cantata Pilgrimage. Gardiner took his Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists around the world in the year 2000 to perform and record all 198 of Bach's sacred cantatas to celebrate his 250th anniversary, and with each new release, one can sense the increasing collegiality between the performers.
Such is Gardiner's instinctive approach to this music that the cantatas seem as fresh as if they had just been written. Harmonic, melodic and instrumental shifts in the music are delineated with tremendous subtlety, and Gardiner ensures that the singers always communicate the meaning of the texts.
The present two-disc set collects together cantatas mainly written for the First and Second Sundays after Easter, and very glorious they are too.
First up is 'Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich', BWV 150, which is thought to be Bach's very first church cantata, though the occasion for which it was written is uncertain. It was probably composed in the Neue Kirche in Arnstadt where Bach was organist for several years from the age of eighteen and where this recording was made.
There are all kinds of technically breathtaking aspects to the music, most especially the transmutation of an instrumental chaconne into a chorus in the finale. But what shines forth, quite frankly, is the young composer's joy in writing music in praise of God. The choir is in splendid voice here, and tenor Charles Daniels is highly expressive in his aria 'Verbirgt mein Hirte sich zu lange' ('Though my shepherd hides too long'). My only reservation is bass Stephen Varcoe's vocally tepid performance of his arias in both this and the cantata 'Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats', BWV 42 ('Then the same say at evening'). The highlight of the latter is instead the duet for soprano and tenor, 'Verzage nicht' ('Do not despair'), which has a fascinating obbligato line for bassoonist Alistair Mitchell (who carries it off superbly); the voices of Daniels and Gillian Keith blend responsively through Bach's lovely melody lines.
'Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ', BWV 67, is perhaps the greatest and certainly the most vigorous work in this set, and it receives a resplendent performance from the strings of the EBS particularly. Sadly, 'Der Friede sei mit dir', BWV 158, is once more marred by Varcoe's excessive vibrato and wayward intonation; he seems always to be straining to focus his tonal reserves, and since he appears in three of this cantata's four movements, this is a slight let-down in an otherwise excellent recording.
The three cantatas for the Second Sunday after Easter were recorded in Echternach. They were all inspired by the pastoral imagery of the twenty-third Psalm and evoke a creamy beauty that makes the second disc of this set especially appealing. 'Du Hirte Israel, höre', BWV 104, opens with a simple chorus of flowing triplets, which the choir sings with miraculous smoothness. Alto William Towers is worthy of special mention in 'Ich bin ein guter Hirt', BWV 85: he performs his aria with a haunting quality to his voice, almost as if hushed by the presence of Jesus the Good Shepherd. Capping it all is the cantata from 1731, 'Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt', BWV 112, whose opening chorale fantasy with two fiendishly difficult solo horn parts is performed with an engaging vivaciousness.
In all, the only thing to say is: another Bach Pilgrimage release, another must-have recording.