Search - Olaf Bär, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Eliot Gardiner :: Bach: Advent Cantatas

A delight

altoman | Springfield, VA | 01/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"J. S. Bach lavished his inventive genius on the cantatas he wrote for weekly church services, and they are altogether too little known. This recording features three cantatas for the First Sunday in Advent (the only Sunday in Advent at which concerted music was sung). All three are built around the great German Advent hymn "Nun komm der Heiden Heiland," written by Martin Luther. Despite their common reliance on this hymn, there is no tedium here; each cantata has its own distinctive voice and message. Gardiner conducts vital performances. Outstanding among the soloists is the silvery-voiced Nancy Argenta. Those who claim that historically informed performance practice and early instruments give anemic results have not heard performances like this."

Spellbinding Performancesof Bach Led by Gardiner

John Kwok | New York, NY USA | 07/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am not familiar with Bach's prodigious output of choral music, but this splendid CD will surely be the first of many in my collection. Sir John Eliot Gardiner leads his English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir in a set of spellbinding performances of J. S. Bach's cantatas composed in honor of Advent. These are lyrical, vibrant performances from both the original instruments and the choir, with special note given to Nancy Argenta's silky phrasing. I have no doubt that these will be viewed as the definitive recordings of Bach's Advent cantatas. The sound quality is exceptional for an early 1990's recording. Fans of historically correct performances, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and of course, J. S. Bach, will not be disappointed with this CD."

Delightful cantata

HSIEH CHENG CHUNG | Taipei, Taiwan | 01/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I found this album is shown as excellect level as others performed by Gardiner and the Monteverdi choir. I especially want to pick up good soprano, Nacy Argenta, her beautiful performance to lyric dream.

I recommand the "Schwingt freudig euch empor" BWV 36, althought it isn't famous in Bach's articles. However, I enjoy its beauty and think it's worth sharing with you."