Bach celebrated with fine singing

by W L Hoffmann

Bach - Solo Cantatas
Canberra Bach Ensemble directed by Andrew Koll

St Christopher's Cathedral, April 2 [2000]

Last weekend was musically memorable for two notable concerts celebrating the Bach anniversary year - a rare opportunity on Friday to hear his masterly keyboard work The Goldberg Variations in an extremely fine performance and on Sunday to savour equally enjoyable performances of five of his vocal cantatas.

Amongst Bach's extensive output the cantatas stand large, particularly the sacred cantatas he wrote for the weekly services at St Thomaskirke, Leipzig, at the end of his life. I believe that as a body they display Bach at his very greatest, all highly inventive and each distinctively expressing the essential spirit of the biblical texts on which they are based. Yet they are rarely performed, with choral societies preferring the larger oratorios and masses.

Happily, the Canberra Bach Ensemble is currently concentrating on these works, and in this program focused on the solo cantatas. The jubilant Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (Praise God in all lands) made a fine start to the program, with beautifully fashioned and bright-toned singing from the soprano soloist, Helen Thomson, supported by sprightly playing from the strings and with the stirring trumpet obligato spiritedly played by Kelly Parkes.

Kent McIntosh was the soloist in Ich armer Mensch (I, a poor man), a cantata that is quietly penitent in nature, with a piquant tonal quality brought to the arias by the contributions of flute and oboe played respectively by Felicity Gallagher and Ann Blackburn. Another contemplative cantata, Vergnügte Ruh! (O contented rest), is for alto voice and was effectively sung by counter-tenor Chris Field, while the more robust mood of Ich habe genug (I have enough) was excellently captured in resonant and warm-toned singing by the bass soloist, Richard Anderson.

Finally the singers came together in a performance of Ich stehe mit einem Fuss im Grabe (I stand with one foot in the grave) which, with its varied arias and final chorale for the four voices made a buoyant conclusion to another rewarding Bach concert.

Andrew Koll conducted with fine feeling for the style and spirit of each work, and the continuo was provided by Peter West (cello) and Nicole Marane (harpsichord/organ).

From W L Hoffmann's Music column, Canberra Times, Wednesday 5 April 2000

Page created 25 April 2000; last updated 25 April 2000

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