Buxtehude: Dein edles Herz, der Liebe Thron: Sacred Concertos, chorales and arias, BWXWV 10, 14, 24, 27, 60 & 79 Capella Angelica; Lautten Compagn

COMPOSERS: Buxtehude
LABELS: Carus
ALBUM TITLE: Buxtehude
WORKS: Dein edles Herz, der Liebe Thron: Sacred Concertos, chorales and arias, BWXWV 10, 14, 24, 27, 60 & 79 Capella Angelica; Lautten Compagn
PERFORMER: Capella Angelica; Lautten Compagney/Wolfgang Katschner
CATALOGUE NO: 83.193

Buxtehude called Denmark his fatherland but, in 2007’s tercentenary of his death, it hardly honoured him (Dacapo’s hi-fi organ cycle was about it). Holland did better, launching Ton Koopman’s multi-CD ‘Opera Omnia’ on Challenge Classics. You might expect one of the major labels from Buxtehude’s adopted Germany to step up – but no, they were put to shame by Carus, publisher of sacred music with a sideline in excellent choral CDs (it’s not just Buxtehude fans who should watch this enterprising label).If Carus’s Membra Jesu nostri isn’t a must-buy (see review above), this well-chosen survey of seven sacred concertos, chorales and arias (not ‘cantatas’) definitely is. The title piece isn’t the plum, actually: that’s a beautiful 17-minute dialogue, Wo soll ich fliehen hin, in which a sinner’s anguished soul desperately seeks refuge and is welcomed by a forgiving God; it’s sung with a fine balance between dramatic expression and pious humility. Only dubious moments of vocal or instrumental re-scoring and the odd below-par soloist prevent five stars.