Johann Sebastian Bach: Ach wie fluchtig, ach wie nichtig, BWV 26
Ach wie fluchtig, ach wie nichtig (Chorus)
Aria: So schnell ein rauschend Wasser schiesst (Tenor)
Recitative: Die Freude wird zur Traurigkeit (Alto)
Aria: An irdische Schatze das Herze zu hangen (Bass)
Recitative: Die hochste Herrlichkeit und Pracht (Soprano)
Chorale: Ach wie fluchtig, ach wie nichtig
Johann Sebastian Bach: Jesus schlaft, was soll ich hoffen, BWV 81
Aria: Jesus schlaft, was soll ich hoffen? (Alto)
Recitative: Herr, warum trittest du so ferne? (Tenor)
Aria: Die schaumenden Wellen von Belials Bachen (Tenor)
Arioso: Ihr Kleinglaubigen, warum seid ihr so furchtsam? (Bass)
Aria: Schweig, aufgeturmtes Meer! (Bass)
Recitative: Wohl mir, mein Jesus spricht ein Wort (Alto)
Chorale: Unter deinen Schirmen
Johann Sebastian Bach: War Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit, BWV 14
War Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit (Chorus)
Aria: Unsre Starke heisst zu schwach (Soprano)
Recitative: Ja, hatt ess Gott nur zugegeben (Tenor)
Aria: Gott, bei deinem starken Schutzen (Bass)
Chorale: Gott Lob und Dank
Johann Sebastian Bach: Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227
Jesu, meine Freude
Es ist nun nichts Verdammliches
Unter deinem Schirmen
Denn das Gesetz des Geistes
Trotz dem alten Drachen
Ihr aber seid nicht fleischlich
Weg mit allen Schatzen!
So aber Christus in euch ist
Gute Nacht, o Wesen
So nun der Geist
Weicht, ihr Trauergeister
2010
“Gardiner's performance of Ach Gott, wie manchesHerzeleid bends the ear towards the power of doleful dissonance, as the opening chorus wends its way through the 'narrow path of sorrow' with all the emblematic trappings of the operatic chaconne. Equally compelling is the taut, cathartic duet 'Wenn Sorgen', where Joanne Lunn and Richard Wyn Roberts chase each other in canonic bliss – in what Gardiner describes as Bach's 'Singin' in the Rain'. Indeed, it is the naturalness of the solo singing that marks out this latest volume. Not always smoothed out or glamorous, the response is always fresh, engaged and alive to text. Roberts proclaims his consoling chorale in Meine Seufzer with a fervour encapsulated in the opening aria by the passionate angst of Julian Podger's exhortation and – if it seemed possible – yet greater despair from the slightly uneven but characterful Gerald Finley in 'Ächzen und erbärmlich Weinen'. William Towers brings a telling control and declamation to the fine opening aria of Jesusschläft. Gardiner rightly asserts that few places reveal the operatic Bach more triumphantly than the peerlessly graphic aria 'Die schäumenden Wellen' – especially in the slightly more forgiving space of Romsey Abbey, allowing Paul Agnew to let rip brilliantly. Bach is not just profoundly arrested by the raging sea but also by the implications of faith following Jesus's calming miracle in Peter Harvey's authoritative 'Vox Christi' scena. The bonus of the great motet Jesu, meine Freude, performed with customary vividness if not polish by the Monteverdi Choir, completes another memorable addition to the series.”
September 2006
“Gardiner's performance of Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid bends the ear towards the power of doleful dissonance, as the opening chorus wends it way through the 'narrow path of sorrow' with all the emblematic trappings of the operatic chaconne. Equally compelling is the taut, cathartic duet 'Wenn Sorgen', where Joanna Lunn and Richard Wyn Roberts chase each other in canonic bliss - in what Gardiner describes as Bach's Singin' in the Rain. The bonus of the great motet Jesu, meine Freude, performed with customary vividness if not polish by the Monteverdi Choir, completes another memorable addition to the series.”
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