# Bach Cantatas - Performers



## JSBach85

The cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach are among his most significant and celebrated compositions, at least 209 of the cantatas composed by Bach have survived. His cantatas usually require four soloists and a four-part choir, but he also wrote solo cantatas for typically one soloist and dialogue cantatas for two singers.

There are many recordings and good performers of Bach cantatas. What are your favourites?

I own lots of recordings of Suzuki / Bach Collegium Japan (BIS), Herreweghe / Collegium Vocale Gent (Harmonia Mundi / Virgin), some of Gardiner / The Monteverdi Choir, The English Baroque Soloists (SDG), a couple of recordings of Milnes / Montreal Baroque (Atma Baroque) and a couple of recordings of Kuijken / La Petite Bande (Accent). 

I am thinking about completing Kuijken / La Petite Bande (Accent). Here in Madrid is hard to find them in musical stores but mdt and amazon have good prices.


----------



## Art Rock

I've got the complete Suzuki set, and selected cantatas by Richter for contrast. That's enough for me, happy with both versions.


----------



## JSBach85

Art Rock said:


> I've got the complete Suzuki set, and selected cantatas by Richter for contrast. That's enough for me, happy with both versions.


I have up to part 4 of Suzuki cantatas Limited Edition. Do you know if there is a part 5?


----------



## premont

JSBach85 said:


> I have up to part 4 of Suzuki cantatas Limited Edition. Do you know if there is a part 5?


Yes, a vol. 5 as you can se on this webpage:

https://www.discogs.com/lists/BIS-Bach-complete-cantatas-boxed-sets/231209

and here:

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/catatas-vol-53-nun/hnum/6111978


----------



## JosefinaHW

The Bach-Cantatas website is an invaluable resource for all of Bach's vocal music. I can't say enough for the site: you will have to explore it yourself, but some of my favorite uses of the site are the following:

1. They have the Lutheran Liturgical Calendar so that you can listen to each cantata in it's liturgical context! Like you, I didn't begin to explore all of Bach's vocal music until very recently. I find it extremely helpful to listen to them in the setting for which they were composed. Yes, of course it can be done as a spiritual exercise but I think it is a more thorough way of listening to this body of work. You can think--for days, years, decades, your whole life !!! about how Bach interpreted the meaning of the texts, what he wanted to convey to the listener, what musical figures did he use to convey what he thought and believed. 

It is totally appropriate to say in this context that everyday I more and more look to Bach as a spiritual director and personal theologian: I have never been very comfortable with the Bible and Bach takes passages that I have thought were too negative or impossible to accept and via his music he conveys the love and joy that are the heart of the Good News. (I'm a terrible writer so I'm not doing him or his music justice--plus I have a throbbing headache--but if you would like to discuss the cantatas in their liturgical or theological aspect I would love to do that.

Back to Bach-Cantatas.com..... for each cantata they provide a link to the score(s) in the IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library, they have translations in many languages in many forms... this saves so much time for people like us.

We are not supposed to post rival music sites here on TC, but this is not a rival site, it is an extraordinary tool and resource for all of us here on TC.

Talk to you soon, I hope.

Josefina


----------



## LesCyclopes

I like Herreweghe & Suzuki. There is also Amarillis & La Maitrise de Colmar who have brilliant Bach cantata performances on CD.


----------



## Bruckner Anton

I don't have a complete set yet. I got the Richter's 75 cantatas and some other partial sets by Suzuki, Gardiner, Leonhardt, Harnoncourt, Marriner etc. I like all of them, but my favorite would be Karl Richter.


----------



## JosefinaHW

The following are some of the single CDs that I have and greatly enjoy.

Matthias Goerne, _Cantatas 86, 56 _(CD cover and performance of 182 and 86 from the CD on YouTube)

https://postimage.org/

BWV 82 _Ich habe genug

_




BWV 56 _Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen_


----------



## JosefinaHW

Matthias Goerne, DVD EuroArts Baroque Christmas excerpts from several cantatas:

BWV 110 _Wachet auf, ihr Adern und ihr Glieder_






BWV 248 _Großer Herr, o starker König
_





Here's a YouTube video of the entire DVD: (FYI, extra fun for me right now because I am predicted to get between 12-25 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow )


----------



## JosefinaHW

Herreweghe, BWV 214 _Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten! _(I think I have all the cantatas that Herreweghe recorded and with a few exceptions they are my favorites.)


----------



## JosefinaHW

Cantata BWV 140 _Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme_ | 1 Chorus (J. S. Bach Foundation)

This is not my favorite performance but I cannot find a recording of mine on YouTube. I posted this excerpt because this is a group currently performing and recording all of Bach's extent church cantatas. They are performing in Switzerland--you might consider trying to catch a live performance.


----------



## Pugg

I just pick the ones that I like , in this case no complete box fro me.


----------



## SiegendesLicht

I have the Richter/Münchener Bach-Orchester set which I really love. The cantata "Ich habe genug" as performed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is for me a spiritual high point of all classical music. I am considering obtaining another set: the HIP Harnoncourt/Leonhardt recording. I have heard some of it - a very transparent, crystal-clear and spiritual performance.


----------



## SiegendesLicht

JosefinaHW said:


> It is totally appropriate to say in this context that everyday I more and more look to Bach as a spiritual director and personal theologian: I have never been very comfortable with the Bible and Bach takes passages that I have thought were too negative or impossible to accept and via his music he conveys the love and joy that are the heart of the Good News. (I'm a terrible writer so I'm not doing him or his music justice--plus I have a throbbing headache--but if you would like to discuss the cantatas in their liturgical or theological aspect I would love to do that.


First, sorry about your headache, Josefina. Hopefully you will get well soon.

Second, I have just come across this quote from Nikolaus Harnoncourt, pretty much echoing your words concerning Bach's theology: "What Bach demonstated Sunday after Sunday to his Leipzig parishioners was highly emotional Bible interpretation - a consummation of Luther's desire to speak about spiritual things in plain language. Every cantata is an adventure and a discovery".


----------



## Scott in PA

I have the Ton Koopman set with the Amsterdam Baroque ensemble.

Also, there is currently another Dutch ensemble that is performing every Cantata and putting out videos on YouTube under the organization called All of Bach. Apparently every work of Bach will eventually be put on YouTube. I've watched many of these and they are excellent (and free!).


----------



## Ekim the Insubordinate

I have nowhere near a complete collection, but most of my cantata recordings are by Suzuki/Bach Collegium Japan (BIS). I am very pleased with them.


----------



## WildThing

Scott in PA said:


> I have the Ton Koopman set with the Amsterdam Baroque ensemble.


This really is a fine set. I generally find the performances preferable to even the Suzuki that gets so much praise.


----------



## JSBach85

Have you ever heard Rifkin/The Bach Ensemble recordings in decca? I just have heard Weimar cantatas in Dorian Recordings and I completely disliked it. Sounds terrible.


----------



## JosefinaHW

SiegendesLicht said:


> I have the Richter/Münchener Bach-Orchester set which I really love. The cantata "Ich habe genug" as performed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is for me a spiritual high point of all classical music. I am considering obtaining another set: the HIP Harnoncourt/Leonhardt recording. I have heard some of it - a very transparent, crystal-clear and spiritual performance.


The first recording of a Bach cantata that I purchased--at least as far as I remember, for whatever that is worth--was DFD performing _Wachet Auf _and I thought it was wonderful. At that time the only source of recommendations for me was the _Penguin Guide_ so based on that I performance I purchased several discs with DFD performing and I loved them all. I only discovered Matthias Goerne's voice VERY recently and VERY fortunately I don't have to choose a favorite performer--I can just enjoy them all! 

I am going to send you a PM to catch up on all kinds of news, but I wanted to say here in keeping with the OP:

Since joining TC I have: completed my collection of all of PHW's recordings of the Bach Cantata's and most of his other recordings, I also have the complete Koopman, Leondarhdt/Harnoncourt, Richter, most of the Gardiner, and most recently the Suzuki recordings of the Bach Cantatas. My goal is to listen to each one of the performances during the same week that they occur in the Lutheran Liturgical Calendar--easier said than done; not for lack of enjoyment but for lack of time and tons of other music that I want to hear.

I think another very interesting way of selecting a performance of a cantata is to compare primary singers. There is a wonderful YouTube poster who continues to upload performances of opera, lieder, sacred music and Broadway musicals by various singers: I enjoy listening to the same piece performed by all these different singers: *Liederoperagreats--subscribe and enjoy!*

Since DFD has been mentioned as Siegendeslicht's favorite, you can start here:


----------



## JosefinaHW

Sorry, I posted a Schubert piece... here's a Bach cantata:


----------



## JosefinaHW

SiegendesLicht said:


> First, sorry about your headache, Josefina. Hopefully you will get well soon.
> 
> Second, I have just come across this quote from Nikolaus Harnoncourt, pretty much echoing your words concerning Bach's theology: "What Bach demonstated Sunday after Sunday to his Leipzig parishioners was highly emotional Bible interpretation - a consummation of Luther's desire to speak about spiritual things in plain language. Every cantata is an adventure and a discovery".


Yes, SL, thankfully Luther believed that the chorales and music in general was an emanation of the Divine! This is quoted in many of the books that I am reading right now--I do not claim any credit for discovering this myself. What I PERSONALLY have found and not read anywhere else yet is that Bach will take a Sunday reading or Gospel text that I have found to be too harsh or in some other way unacceptable and Bach's Cantata presents a completely positive interpretation of the text(s)--he interpreted the text in a completely different or positive way and conveys that in his music! For me, his wisdom is extraordinary and this goes back to even when he was a very young man.


----------



## SiegendesLicht

May I ask if you could share any concrete examples? Just curious, you know.


----------



## jenspen

JosefinaHW said:


> Sorry, I posted a Schubert piece... here's a Bach cantata:
> 
> snip


And here's another one:






Es lebe Dieskau und sein Haus! at 3:38


----------



## Bulldog

JSBach85 said:


> Have you ever heard Rifkin/The Bach Ensemble recordings in decca? I just have heard Weimar cantatas in Dorian Recordings and I completely disliked it. Sounds terrible.


I have both the Dorian and Decca recordings. Like you, I don't find the Dorian acceptable; sound is not crisp, singers are only average and Rifkin doesn't exhibit much vitality. The Decca performances are much better and are among my treasured recordings of Bach cantatas.


----------



## HarmonicsV

I'm a great fan of Fritz Werner's incomplete (but pioneering) set recorded between the late fifties and early seventies. Recording quality and choral singing may not have the clinical perfection of, say, Eliot Gardiner; but I love the warmth and humanity of the performances. And there are some stellar vocal turns, especially Agnes Giebel (happily still with us at 95) and Barry McDaniel (for me, a perfect Ich habe genug).


----------



## JosefinaHW

SiegendesLicht said:


> May I ask if you could share any concrete examples? Just curious, you know.


I am going to write and send you a message with an example right now.


----------



## Bettina

JosefinaHW said:


> I am going to write and send you a message with an example right now.


Actually, I would be interested in hearing about the examples too. I like your idea about Bach taking an optimistic approach to some of the dark texts that he set to music, and I'm curious to learn more about this. Would you be comfortable with posting the examples publicly on the website? If not, could you please send me a message as well?


----------



## JosefinaHW

Bettina said:


> Actually, I would be interested in hearing about the examples too. I like your idea about Bach taking an optimistic approach to some of the dark texts that he set to music, and I'm curious to learn more about this. Would you be comfortable with posting the examples publicly on the website? If not, could you please send me a message as well?


I will put together all the texts, links and my thoughts this evening and post it or send it via PM sometime tonight or tomorrow--it's a day with several appointments and lots of driving. I'm glad that you share my interest in this.


----------



## Bettina

JosefinaHW said:


> I will put together all the texts, links and my thoughts this evening and post it or send it via PM sometime tonight or tomorrow--it's a day with several appointments and lots of driving. I'm glad that you share my interest in this.


Thanks for offering to share your insights on this topic. I look forward to reading them, either in the form of a PM or a public post. Good luck with your appointments and driving duties today.


----------

