Gramophone

SDG153- Bach Cantatas vol. 20 (1 Jun 2009)

The weeks leading up to Lent carry a preparatory message which unifies these latest Pilgrimage cantatas, recorded in Naarden in Holland and Southwell Minster: namely, one of expressing gratitude for spiritual blessings and - as specifically articulated in the wonderful minuet alto aria of the first work, BWV144 - the robust exhortation to "be happy with your lot and get going".

Gardiner's rapt performances launch themselves magnificently from the "standing start" (as he aptly calls it) of the above-mentioned piece, whose opening chorus is stripped of all indulgence, in both setting and rendering, to the unequivocal aggression of "Erhalt uns", via the emotional extremes in chorale cantata, Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn, whose muscular hymn by Paul Gerhardt is worked over by Bach in juxtapositions of extraordinary range.

Then, on a more reflective note, comes the solo soprano cantata Ich bin vernügt, receiving a more measured, rhetorically questing reading from Miah Persson than Carolyn Sampson's recent, bright-eyed performance for Suzuki (5/09). If not as instantly radiant, this is terrific Bach-singing and Persson extends her fine contribution with a wonderfully moving "Meinem Hirten", the last aria in BWV92: one of those irresistible vignettes of unswerving discipleship in pastoral mode.

Likewise, there are outstanding contributions from the compellingly focused James Oxley in the "rage" aria "Seht, seht!" ("See, see how all things snap, break, fall"), almost Schreier-like in its onomatopocic designs, Stephen Loges's suitably avaricious and pettifogging representation of those who "devour the seed" in BWV181 and the invigorated Monteverdi Choir extending the conceit, in BWV126, in perhaps the most angry piece Bach ever composed. Spoiling for a fight, "fending off murderous Papists and Turks" - an odd sentiment to be conveyed in these ecumenical times - Gardiner's forces are on splendid form in another exceptional volume.

How strong the contrast in the luminous strains of Vol 42 of Bach Collegium Japan's considered journey of complete cantatas.