Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki - J.S. Bach: Cantatas, Vol. 34 (2007) Hi-Res

Disc No. 34 in Suzuki’s series of Bach cantatas brings him well over halfway through the list. Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (BWV 1) is one of the more familiar works, first recorded by Karl Ristenpart for Archiv in mono, while the other two first appeared in the early stereo era under Wolfgang Gönnenwein and Karl Richter. All three were part of Bach’s 1725 cycle of chorale cantatas that were based on hymns, a cycle that ended incomplete with BWV 1. The opening and closing chorales in this work are Philipp Nicolai’s hymn (set to a medieval text) and make a splendid effect, a deliberate choice to lead off the published collected works.
It is followed by Erhalt uns, Herr , a hymn text by Luther that he launched against “the two arch-enemies of Christ and His Holy Church, the Pope and the Turks.” (Today’s Lutherans sing a less combative text.) The trumpets lead the chorus into battle most effectively. Herr, Jesus Christ was composed for the last Sunday before the beginning of Lent and uses a melody by Louis Bourgeois with an early-Reformation hymn text. The work anticipates the themes of Lent in the suffering of the Savior and the salvation of sinners. Both are fully equal to Bach’s more well-known cantatas, the kind that reward collectors who listen past the favorite works in the acquisition of a complete collection.
While I have heard some of Suzuki’s other recordings, this is the first of his Bach cantatas to come my way. It is a series that ranks right up there with the rest. Along with his local chorus and instrumental collegium, he uses a continuing group of European soloists. Here only Carolyn Sampson, Gerd Türk, and Peter Kooij are heard (there is nothing for countertenor Robin Blaze to do, though his name appears). My collection of cantatas goes way back, with multiple examples by Scherchen, Prohaska, Lehmann, Ristenpart, Karl Richter, Wøldike, Ehmann, Gönnenwein, Werner, and Rilling, not to mention numerous single LPs under a dozen other conductors. Almost every disc represented the state of performance practice at the time, but how I would love to compare each one with Suzuki’s current understanding. It’s a revelation. -- J. F. Weber