Search - Peter Kooij, Johann Sebastian Bach, Masaaki Suzuki :: Bach: Cantatas, Vol 6 (BWV 31, 21) /Bach Collegium Japan * Suzuki

The Bach Collegium Japan?! Believe it or not, this is not a contradiction in terms--these musicians can do Bach with the best of them. This volume, the best of their series so far, features Ich hatte viel bekümmernis, which is something like Bach's entire sacred output in microcosm. The music proceeds from Lutheran angst over sin to consolation to joy over the soul's salvation, using fugal choruses, anguished chromaticism, a bass- soprano love duet for Jesus and the soul (a favorite device of Bach's), and a triumphant final chorus with the same text Handel used to close the Messiah. The highlight of the disc is the truly jubilant Easter cantata Der Himmel lacht, die Erde jubilieret: just try to sit still as the BCJ rips through the punchy sinfonia and the near-delirious first chorus. -- Matthew Westphal