Bach: Cantatas: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140; Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147
Published:
COMPOSERS: Bach
LABELS: Teldec Das Alte Werk
WORKS: Cantatas: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140; Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147
PERFORMER: Alan Bergius (soprano), Stefan Rampf (alto), Kurt Equiluz (tenor), Thomas Hampson (baritone)Tölz Boys Choir, Concentus Musicus Wien/Nikolaus Harnoncourt
CATALOGUE NO: 4509-95987-2 ADD/DDD (1984/85)
Teldec’s pioneering recordings of all Bach’s sacred cantatas have been available on double CDs for a while; they are now being reissued at ‘special price’ in ten six-disc boxes. This coupling of two of the best-known cantatas has been released separately, presumably as a taster. Dating from the mid-Eighties, the performances are typical of Harnoncourt’s contribution to the cycle: moderate speeds, plenty of imaginative phrasing, and distinguished solo singing from Kurt Equiluz and two solo trebles. But you also have to live with woolly, ragged singing from the all-male choir, and a continual awareness of how much period instrument playing has improved in the last decade. Stephen Maddock