NewOlde.com Early Music Blog

Since discovering the sale on nine volumes of Ton Koopman's Bach Cantatas series and ordering the four I was missing, I have been listening almost exclusively to Koopman Bach cantatas. The series includes many excellent performances, and the recording quality is first rate. That's not to say that the recordings couldn't be improved upon, with one-voice-per-part (OVPP) choral movements and more elaborate ornamentation by the vocal solists, particularly in the da capos. But the only ongoing "complete" Bach cantata series using OVPP -- the Canadian project on ATMA -- is just issuing its first CD this month. (Details.).

Joshua Rifkin's OVPP series was prematurely cancelled by Decca during the transitional period between LP and CD, when the international entertainment oligopoly suddenly cut off software to CD-haters and resistors like myself to force the few knowledgeable consumers to buy unwanted hardware and to accept mediocre, digital sound or nothing. Presumably others in addition to myself who had bought Rifkin's initial releases on LP chose "nothing" and skipped the CD-only releases, leading Polygreed to declare the project a loser. While interesting and enjoyable, Rifkin's landmark recordings fell far short of Koopman and other more recent Bach cantata recordings in the quality of individual performances, though they reflected real scholarship and not the unpersuasive arguments in support of the dull status quo advanced by Koopman and conformist musicologists.

This evening I listened to the first disk of Koopman's volume 17 for the first time. I have other recordings of at least three of the four works on this CD, but, not having listened to any of them recently, am not in a position to do a detailed, comparative review.

Newcomers to this site should bear in mind that I am not a J.S. Bach enthusiast. If given an opportunity to travel back in time and spend a day listening to Bach direct and perform his music or, alternatively, to attend an opera at any major, contemporary opera house, I would without hesitation go to the opera. Moreover, given the choice of listening to recordings of Telemann or Bach oratorios or cantatas, I usually choose Telemann. However, I appreciate that Bach was a great performer and composer, though limited by an already antique musical style and employment as a director of religious music in a succession of small cities without opera or acclaimed opera singers.

The first work on Vol 17 is a cantata for alto and organ, BWV 169. It opens with an organ sinfonia, later turned into the first movement of a harpsichord concerto. The extensive organ solo is performed expertly by Koopman, with interesting ornamentation throughout, especially in the da capo repeat. It sounds as if Koopman plays with historic fingerings, which facilitate ornamentation and unequal notes. As in other recordings in the series, Mike Fentross plays superb lute continuo, which the recording engineers have given just the right prominence, IMHO. The performance of the sinfonia might have been even better if played on an historically-correct large organ, instead of a continuo instrument, as used on this and most other recordings. However, I would recommend this set simply for the performance of the organ sinfonia.

The second movement of BWV 169 is an arioso for alto, interrupted three times by simple recitative. It sounds operatic, especially with lute continuo. The next movement is an aria for alto with elaborate organ obligato accompaniment. I'm quite fond of the clear voice of Bogna Bartosz, featured in this cantata, but wish that she had ornamented the da capo repeat. After a simple recitative comes another aria later used as a movement in a harpsichord concerto, a 12/8 chromatic siciliana. Again, Bartosz sings with pure tone and excellent command of the low notes, but misses another opportunity for ornamentation. The cantata ends with a simple recitative followed by a basic chorale.

The next work on the first CD of vol 17 is BWV 32, a work for soprano and bass. The bass, as on every recording in the series, is Klaus Mertens, who I consider to be the finest bass performer of German baroque music. The soprano is Johannette Zomer, one of the best of the sopranos in the series. (My favorite is Deborah York.) BWV 32 begins with a short, adagio aria for soprano. Zomer sings very well, with minimal vibrato, but misses an opportunity for ornamentation -- not an uncommon problem in Bach performances. However, Mertens, with the least likely vocal range to ornament, in fact employs the most elaborate ornamentation on the disk thus far in the second aria, a long da capo aria in 3/8 time with solo violin accompaniment in triplets. Following is an accompagnato for soprano and bass, then a da capo duet for soprano and bass. Zomer can just barely muster the vocal power to balance Mertens' resonant bass voice. The cantata ends with a simple chorale.

Next on the first CD is BWV 58, which I find to be the least interesting work on this disk. Like BWV 32, it is scored for soprano and bass. It begins and ends with chorale/arias for soprano and bass that might be more appealing if performed OVPP. In the middle is an aria for soprano and solo violin that was added 6 or 7 years after the first performance.

The first CD ends with BWV 84, a familiar cantata for soprano of which there are many available recordings. I wouldn't choose this one, with Sandrine Piau, but since it occupies only 13'16 on a 71'13 CD, the CD represents good value even if BWV 84 is skipped. One clearly superior recording of BWV 84 is the performance by Nancy Argenta with Monica Huggett (Koopman's original concertmaster) and Ensemble Sonnerie.