John Eliot Gardiner - Bach Cantata Pilgrimage

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John Eliot Gardiner & Monteverdi Choir & English Baroque Soloists
Bach Cantata Pilgrimage - Vol. 15

P-15	Bach Cantatas Vol. 15: New York For the 3^rd Day of Christmas
Cantatas BWV 64 [17:39], BWV 151 [17:07], BWV 57 [22:56], BWV 133 [18:15]
John Eliot Gardiner
Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists
Sopranos: Katharine Fuge [BWV 133], Gillian Keith [BWV 64, BWV 151], Joanne Lunn [BWV 57]; Counter-tenors: Robin Tyson [BWV 64, BWV 133], William Towers [BWV 151]; Tenor: James Gilchrist; Bass: Peter Harvey
Soli Deo Gloria 127		Dec 27, 2000	CD / TT: 76:15
Live recording from the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, at St Bartholomew’s Church, New York, NY, USA. See: John Eliot Gardiner - Bach Cantata Pilgrimage - Vol. 15 Buy this album at: CD: Amazon.com \| Amazon.co.uk \| Amazon.de Music Download: Amazon.com \| Amazon.co.uk \| Amazon.de \| ClassicsOnline

Gardiner vol 15 : BCP in NY - Cantatas for 2^nd & 3^rd day of Christmas

Thomas Shepherd wrote (October 21, 2006):
Was this ONE disc volume designed to be released for the Christmas market by any chance? Or is that too cynical. It arrived this morning and is playing as I write this email.

BWV 64 contains a variety of styles including three well known chorales - even if (as the experts have often said) the congregation would not have been encouraged to sing with the choir, I can't imagine them not humming to these well known favourites.

And what a hauntingly beautiful lullaby "Sweet comfort, my Jesus comes, Jesus now is born!…" as the first movement to BWV 151 - another gem, executed with exquisite tenderness by Gillian Keith and the flautist Rachel Beckett. Wonderful.

What jolly music to "I swiftly end my earthly life…" the soprano aria in BWV 57 sung by Joanne Lunn with some lovely violin playing. This cantata ends with another favourite chorale - one still sung across the world - "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation"

And BWV 133 is full of joy from the first moment. A cantata to put on the CD player on St John's Day, turn the volume up loud and shake the house from the inevitable torpor of the days after Christmas.

So for now the CD can return to the shelf until after Christmas.

As it was recorded in St Bartholomew's New York, ambient sound mellow, performances of all the band and artists as usual impeccable, a single disc, priced reasonably, packaged beautifully (a Tibetan shepherd new-born pictured on the cover) it would make a perfect present for any music lover this Christmas - it contains some of Bach's most ravishing and exuberant music and probable least known. After all, cantatas for this time of the year have to compete with those that make up the Christmas Oratorio.

My only niggle is that we have now two SINGLE disc volumes (14,15) for Christmas Day, 2^nd & 3^rd days of Christmas. The days are muddled across the discs (unlike the rest of the series which keeps all of one Sunday or event to one disc) and for those of us collecting the BCP series, a single volume case with two CDs probably would have been sufficient. Still, lets hope that some new listeners will be attracted by either or both of them - the series deserves a wide audience. May the volume do well on this side of the pond and sell like hot cakes in the States - if only for national pride for the recording venue!

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Last update: Friday, October 21, 2022 05:18