Bach, J S: Cantata BWV26 'Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig' - download (MP3 & FLAC)

“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.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“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.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2006

“consistently outstanding performances, musical beyond belief, and worthy of any collection” (MusicWeb)

“This volume takes its name from Bach's second and least-established setting based on the great Advent hymn Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (No 62), composed in 1724 to inaugurate the new church year in Leipzig. If not quite boasting the magisterial imagery of his earlier effort from Weimar, the spirit of Luther's celebrated purloining of 'Veni redemptor gentium' lives on, especially in a brilliant opening concerto-style Vocal JS Bach 72 chorus whose unambiguous thematic character perfectly inhabits the hopes of the new season.
Masaaki Suzuki delivers a less visceral performance than some but derives a most effective contrast between the ecstatic fragrance of the first aria and the 'militant, tumultuous continuo theme of the second,' as Dürr puts it.
The latter, 'Streite, siege', is sung with considerable gusto by Peter Kooij but it is the contemplative elements to which Suzuki is most naturally drawn. The opening of Wohl dem, dersich auf seinen Gott (No 139) is a case in point, where the affectionate oboi d'amore provide a tender backdrop to a particularly reassuring treatment of Bach's most elegant of harmonic strategies. The return of Robin Blaze to the series brings a similarly involved and reflective musicianship to the anguished strains in 'Ach, unaussprechlich ist die Not' in No 116.
Elsewhere there is an urgent account of the graphic and succinct Ach wie flüchtig (No 26) in which Bach alights gleefully on the triviality and materialism of man's life; images of time and opportunity flash past us with striking immediacy here. This was a popular cantata in the preperiod era but few recordings maintain the focus of the conceit as effectively as Suzuki.
Less telling is the opening chorus of No 116 (Du Friedefürst) which, for all its tidy articulation and refined shaping, contains little of the rich repository of nuances, large and small, which Nikolaus Harnoncourt so effortlessly instills. For all the many beauties bestowed on us from Bach Collegium Japan over the past 27 volumes, that ageing series soberingly reminds us of a kind of musical assumption which oxygenated the best cantata performances then – qualities somehow less easily uncovered these days. The Super Audio option, used in the series for the first time, offers an even more luminous presenc” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The latest volume contains few disappointments. Tempos are well-judged, the 12-voice choir effective and the instrumental playing well nigh impeccable.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2005