Cantus Colln at the Wigmore - Tuesday

[ardcarp]

Cantus Colln, directed by Konrad Junghanel, with motets and early cantatas by JS Bach, live from Wigmore Hall.

Presented by Sara Mohr-Pietsch

Bach:
Cantata: Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen BWV12
Motet: Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden BWV230
Cantata: Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee BWV18

8.15: Interval - music by Bach and his contemporaries.

8.35
Cantata: Christ lag in Todesbanden BWV4
Motet: Jesu, meine Freude BWV227

Cantus Cölln
Konrad Junghänel, director

The German vocal ensemble Cantus Cölln and its founder-director, lutenist Konrad Junghänel, approach Bach's work with the minds of musicians steeped not only in the composer's music but also in the styles of composers who influenced his artistic development. A world leader in the historically informed performance of everything from the music of Monteverdi to Buxtehude, Schütz and Weckmann, the ensemble makes its Wigmore Hall debut with an all-Bach programme deeply rooted in the traditions of Lutheran worship. Death and mourning, addressed here in Christ lag in Todesbanden and the funeral motet Jesu, meine Freude, are counterbalanced by the tone of comfort and consolation central to the two Weimar cantatas BWV12 and BWV18. 


Anyone hear this...and any comments?

[Lento]

Heard most of the first half with varying degrees of attention, having started off with the best of intentions. Can't say I took to it for some reason and wondered if we have been spoiled by JEG and others. The balance seemed wrong initially also, to my ears.

[ardcarp]

I have to agree, Lento, though I stuck with it to the end. The combination of OVPP and Wigmore gave no sense of blend to the performance. All was miked with clinical clarity...when a little acoustical fudging may have helped! The result was, for me anyway, less than the sum of the parts. One or two of the 'soloists' struggled a bit (no names no packdrill) though singers of that calibre, had they been doubled up, would have been a very effective 'choir'. But then this is not what Cantus Colln is about.

It seemed quite unfair to have rather superb baroque performances in the interval. Why do they do this? As has been observed before, how much better to have an informed interval talk.

[edashtav]

100 % in agreement with ardcarp. The acoustic defeated the singers, and the engineers did them no service, either. Vocal intonation was raw, balance with instruments was poor. We have been spoiled by the excellence of some versions on CD.

A distressing experience.

[Thropplenoggin]

I was there...and left at the interval. A first for me.

Based on this disastrous experience, I believe that OVPP works for neither cantatas nor motets. The alto and tenor were quite swamped. Only the bass and the sopranos (there were two) could rise above the instruments...but this altered the balance cruelly. The trumpet, placed behind us on the balcony, then threw the balance out even further.

The instrumental playing was superb and made a lovely sound. The best singing came in BWV 18, when the singers had warmed up and a younger soprano had replaced the older one. She had a lovely voice, wonderful control, and ornamentation (trills) that never grated.

George Hall, one of the Guardian's critics, sat two rows in front of me, looked bored. He has enormous ears...must help with the job. When you get to noticing things like this, it's time to leave. I scribbled 'A gift from Thropplenoggin' inside my programme and left it on a recently vacated chair on the way out.

Once home, in order to cheer myself up, I bought tickets to see Nelson Freire at the QEH. Looks like a cracking recital programme.

[MickyD]

I didn't hear the concert, but I have to say that having heard a few of Cantus Koln's CD's, I'm not that impressed with some of the intonation. Their set of Bach Missa Breves, for example...the top lines often sound flat to my ears. I returned with relief to Herreweghe's version.

[ardcarp]

Good to hear your impressions, Thropps. Often 'being there' produces a different experience from what you hear via some speakers. In this case, sadly not.

[jean]

...The combination of OVPP and Wigmore gave no sense of blend to the performance...

I haven't heard it yet, and I don't care for OVPP (had to look that up!) in Bach cantatas, but I always thought the Wigmore acoustic was supposed to be the best anywhere for anything.

When I lived in London more than twenty years ago, I used to go to chamber concerts there a lot, and there were also quite a few song recitals; but St John's Smith Square always seemed to me more suitable for vocal ensembles, especially of sacred music.

Now everything seems to be at the Wigmore. Why?

(Until I saw this thread, I always assumed it was Cantus Köln. What's the connexion with the city, or isn't there one?)

[DracoM]

Just as a listener, Wigmore Hall is fine and clear for string quartets/quintets etc and voice and piano, but once you start getting bigger than that, the boxiness of the place becomes very evident on air. It seems NOT to be helpful to singers + ensembles together at all.

[Old Grumpy]

(Until I saw this thread, I always assumed it was Cantus Köln. What's the connexion with the city, or isn't there one?)

Me too, in fact I initially read it as Cantus Colin - care to enlighten us anyone?

OG

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

According to their own website, the Thread heading (apart from an umlaut over the "o") is correct:

http://www.cantuscoelln.com/

... but this was a surprise to me, too.

[doversoul1]

Me too, in fact I initially read it as Cantus Colin - care to enlighten us anyone?

OG

In the 13th century Cölln was the sister town of Old Berlin (Altberlin), located on the southern Spree Island in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Today the island is located in the historic core of the central Mitte locality of modern Berlin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B6lln

I must catch up with this concert as well as the Purcell BaL and the EMS.

[Nick Armstrong]

(Until I saw this thread, I always assumed it was Cantus Köln. What's the connexion with the city, or isn't there one?)

Perhaps it is an archaic version of the city's name - but they certainly use a 'c' and 2 'l's http://www.cantuscoelln.com/

(PS dovers: noted! but I'm sure the presenter of the concert was going on about the conductor commenting on the number of early music groups in Köln/Cologne. Perhaps I misunderstood)

I wasn't listening in ideal conditions, which is why I didn't want to start a thread on returning home that evening and then be totally negative - but in the light of this thread, I'll say I don't think I've ever heard such excruciating singing on Radio 3 as in the opening cantata. The short motet afterwards seemed to go better but basically, yes, distressing is a good word. I think I would have been piling out into Wigmore Street too, T-Nog, at the earliest opportunity

[edashtav]

The Worst Ever?

Spot on, Caliban: I, too, have never heard such excruciating singing on Radio3 as in this concert's first item.

[jean]

I turned on the iPlayer in some trepidation, but the motet wasn't at all bad. Haven't heard the second half yet.

Just as a listener, Wigmore Hall is fine and clear for string quartets/quintets etc and voice and piano, but once you start getting bigger than that, the boxiness of the place becomes very evident on air. It seems NOT to be helpful to singers + ensembles together at all.

I'd have thought so. So why the mass exodus from SJSS?

(I know that modern German is fond of the letter K, but it it has Cs too. What are the rules, and when did they change?)