Cantus Colln at the Wigmore - Tuesday

[Frances_iom]

It was good to know that it wasn't my ears - I listened to it all - the 1st half was I'm afraid mostly dire (were they actually in tune it sounded quite discordant to me at times - maybe it was what Bach would have heard from a relatively poor local choir but as pointed out we have many truely excellent Bach recordings) tho the 2nd half was somewhat better and the encore better still - an off night for choir in what seemed very inhospitable acoustics

[gurnemanz]

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

OG

Based on the the Latin Colonia it seems to have changed a few times over the centuries with many variants running simultaneously, also Coellen, Cöllen, Cölln und Cöln. It only became officially Köln after the First World War. I suppose the spelling variant in Cantus Coelln conjures up the kind of antique feel to the name which they were after for the music they intended to perform. Also the repeated initial "C" works quite well. We go to Köln often -their special style of beer called Kölsch, served only in 0.2 litre glasses, is to be recommended.

There is at least one other Cölln (near Berlin) which has stuck with the older spelling.

I didn't hear the concert but have a few discs by them (Telemann and Monteverdi as well as Bach) which are excellent.

Incidentally, two other towns - Kassel and Karlsruhe - adopted a "K" around the same time. There is still a Carlsruhe in Australia.

[ardcarp]

I guess the anglicised -ogne form arrived with the French parfumerie.

[Lento]

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.

Glad it was not just me, in a way!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

We should, in fairness, recognize that standards of tuning were very different in Bach's time, and that the Equal Temperament that became the standard a hundred years ago is not the same as the "Well Tempered" tunings the composer heard. Performers who use tunings that do not conform to what we have come to expect are not necessarily ...


... oh, the blazes! This was dire!!!

[DracoM]

Were there press reviews at all?

[doversoul1]

The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/20/cantus-colln-junghanel-george-hall-review

Junghänel and his vocalists, while not impeccably tidy, offered a humanity that more brilliant readings sometimes lack

[jean]

And the Telegraph.

I was glad I stuck with it, though - apart from a few glitches and a little uncertain tuning, I really enjoyed Jesu meine Freude.

[jean]

While I was looking for the right link for the Guardian review that doversoul quoted from (it's here)
I came upon this one, of a concert they gave as part of the Lufthansa Baroque Festival in 2011, interesting in view of the discussion above about the Wigmore acoustic:

...Above all, the venue's acoustic qualities were splendidly displayed, allowing music ideal for its scale to resound with a perfect blend of clarity and resonance.

SJSS, of course. So why is it so little used these days?

[ardcarp]

Polyphony still use SJSS for their seasonal Messiahs, SJ Passions, etc.

This also from The Guardian review of Cantus Colln:

Individual voices might be on the mature side these days,

[jean]

Stephen Layton is Artistic Director of the SJSS Christmas Festival, and he has the sense to hold the whole Festival there. And the Lufthansa Festival moved there from St James Piccadilly some years ago.

But apart from that, there's very little. And I don't understand why.