BaL 7.12.13 - Bach: Cantata BWV 21

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30am Building a Library
Nicholas Anderson with a personal recommendation from recordings of Bach's Cantata No 21, Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis

Available versions:-


Ensemble Vanitas, Coro della Radio Svizzera, Diego Fasolis
Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner
Niklaus Harnoncourt
La Chapelle Royale, Phillippe Herreweghe
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Ton Koopman
La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kujiken
Holland Boys’ Choir & Netherlands Bach Collegium, Pieter Jan Leusink
Purcell Quartet & soloists
Munich Bach Choir & Orchestra, Karl Richter
Bach-Colegium Stuttgart, Helmut Rilling
RIAS Chamber Orchestra & Choir, Karl Ristenpart
Vienna Chamber Choie, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Jonathan Steinberg
Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki
Heinrich Schutz Choir, Heilbronn & Pforzheimer Kammerorchester, Fritz Werner

[verismissimo]

Absolutely delighted to see this as next Saturday's BAL. Great cantata and manageable number of runners.

I have Harnoncourt from 1973 and Leusink from the noughties. To be reviewed.

[MickyD]

I'm also delighted to see that Nicholas Anderson is to be the reviewer - a passionate and hugely knowledgeable authority on baroque music.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have Rilling, Richter and now JEG. I must listen to all three before next week's broadcast.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Absolutely delighted to see this as next Saturday's BAL. Great cantata and manageable number of runners.

I have Harnoncourt from 1973 and Leusink from the noughties. To be reviewed.

Snap! Both very good, indeed.

[VodkaDilc]

I'm also delighted to see that Nicholas Anderson is to be the reviewer - a passionate and hugely knowledgeable authority on baroque music.

Exactly my reaction, Micky.

[gurnemanz]

Herreweghe, Harnoncourt, Leusink. I can't hear the mighty thrice-sung "Ich!" without thinking of the effect that I was told it had on citizens in Bach's Leipzig during the DDR phase of their history, when all propaganda emphasis was on the collective "Wir" and all individualism was suppressed. The East German dissident, Wolf Biermann, has written about this canata and specifically the profound effect which the first 13 words had on him ... an atheist:

Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis in meinem Herzen; aber deine Tröstungen erquicken meine Seele.
(I had much affliction in my heart, but your consolations restore my soul.)

[verismissimo]

[QUOTE=gurnemanz;355818]Herreweghe, Harnoncourt, Leusink. I can't hear the mighty thrice-sung "Ich!" without thinking of the effect that I was told it had on citizens in Bach's Leipzig during the DDR phase of their history, when all propaganda emphasis was on the collective "Wir" and all individualism was suppressed. The East German dissident, Wolf Biermann, has written about this canata and specifically the profound effect which the first 13 words had on him ... an atheist:

Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis in meinem Herzen; aber deine Tröstungen erquicken meine Seele.
(I had much affliction in my heart, but your consolations restore my soul.)[/QUOTE

Wonderful post, thanks, gurnemanz.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Having now listened to the JEG, it's an energetic performance, but I do wonder about the recorded sound. The tenor sounds as though he was much too close to the microphone, with unpleasant transients.

[MickyD]

I found the same problem with JEG's recent recording of the Brandenburgs...the sound was far too "close" for my liking.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

So far, this seems to a balanced BaL without a pre-conceived agenda.

[Thropplenoggin]

'Wordly tribulations', 'sensibility', several 'veritables' and the use of 'yield' as a verb...wonderful! Why can't every BBC R3 presenter speak with such precise and eloquent English?

Agree with EA. A very fair BaL. It had me glued to the radio from start to finish, and that doesn't happen often these days.

[doversoul1]

La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kujiken

NA is a bit hard on Diego Fasolis but I think sacred music isn’t quite his best field.

[LeMartinPecheur]

La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kujiken

This frankly is a work that I don't care passionately about, but was nonetheless gratified to discover that I had chosen unerringly with my one and only version

[BBMmk2]

I rather like Jeggers in this I might even get the whole cycle. I think I am rather a Jeggers fan?!?!?